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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Neuropsychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1393642

Childhood ADHD and Subthreshold Symptoms Are Associated with Cognitive Functioning at Age 40 -a Cohort Study on Perinatal Birth Risks

Provisionally accepted
Nella Schiavone Nella Schiavone 1*Maarit Virta Maarit Virta 1Sami Leppämäki Sami Leppämäki 2Jyrki Launes Jyrki Launes 1Ritva Vanninen Ritva Vanninen 3,4Annamari Tuulio-Henriksson Annamari Tuulio-Henriksson 1Ilkka Järvinen Ilkka Järvinen 1Eliisa Lehto Eliisa Lehto 1Laura Hokkanen Laura Hokkanen 1
  • 1 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • 2 Terveystalo Healthcare, Helsinki, Finland
  • 3 University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Northern Savonia, Finland
  • 4 Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Northern Savonia, Finland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In this prospective cohort study over 40 years we investigated the effect of childhood attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and subthreshold ADHD on cognitive performance in adulthood. The cohort comprised individuals with mild perinatal risks. Childhood ADHD group (cADHD, n = 39) was compared to a group with subthreshold childhood attention or hyperactivity symptoms (cAP; n = 79), a group with similar perinatal risks but no ADHD symptoms (n = 255), and to controls without ADHD symptoms or perinatal risks (n = 69). The groups were assessed with multiple neuropsychological measures in domains of verbal reasoning, perceptual skills, memory, working memory, attention, executive functions, and speed. Group-level differences and frequencies of deficient functioning were analyzed. Overall, the groups' performance differed in all cognitive domains at age 40. Verbal reasoning, perceptual skills, memory, and speed had the largest effect sizes (.51 -.62). The cADHD group's performance was lower than the other groups' on 13 out of 21 measures. The cAP group performed poorer than controls on five measures. In the cADHD group, 23% had three or more deficient cognitive domains, compared to 4%-6% in the other groups. Childhood ADHD is associated with impaired cognitive functioning in adulthood on several cognitive domains whereas childhood subthreshold ADHD is linked to fewer cognitive deficits. Task complexity was linked to poorer performance within the ADHD group. Our results add to the scarce longitudinal evidence of cognitive outcomes related to childhood ADHD and subthreshold symptoms.

    Keywords: ADHD1, cohort study2, cognition3, neuropsychological assessment4, deficit5, adult6

    Received: 29 Feb 2024; Accepted: 21 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Schiavone, Virta, Leppämäki, Launes, Vanninen, Tuulio-Henriksson, Järvinen, Lehto and Hokkanen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nella Schiavone, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

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