Neurocognitive Profiles in Children With ADHD and Their Predictive Value for Functional Outcomes

Objective: We examined whether neurocognitive profiles could be distinguished in children with ADHD and typically developing (TD) children, and whether neurocognitive profiles predicted externalizing, social, and academic problems in children with ADHD. Method: Neurocognitive data of 81 children with ADHD and 71 TD children were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The resulting factors were used for community detection in the ADHD and TD group. Results: Four subgroups were detected in the ADHD group, characterized by (a) poor emotion recognition, (b) poor interference control, (c) slow processing speed, or (d) increased attentional lapses and fast processing speed. In the TD group, three subgroups were detected, closely resembling Subgroups (a) to (c). Neurocognitive subgroups in the ADHD sample did not differ in externalizing, social, and academic problems. Conclusion: We found a neurocognitive profile unique to ADHD. The clinical validity of neurocognitive profiling is questioned, given the lack of associations with functional outcomes.