Relation of Executive Function Problems with Severity of ADHD Symptoms

Document Type : original article

Authors

1 Department of Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Rehabilitation Management, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

3 Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

10.22038/jpp.2025.91630.5604

Abstract

Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects 7.2% of school-aged children. Affected children have been reported to show a range of executive function (EF) problems. This study investigated problems in different aspects of executive function and their relationships with the severity of attention deficit (AD) and hyperactivity symptoms (HS) in primary school children with ADHD.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 104 children with ADHD were recruited from schools based on the Vanderbilt test, which was administered by teachers for those who seemed to be inattentive or overactive in class. The executive function of participants was measured by BRIEF-2 and the prevalence of clinical deficits in different executive function domains and components was calculated. Additionally, correlations between EF scores and each of the “AD” and “HS” scores were examined using the Pearson correlation test.
Results: Among the 9 executive function components  measured by BRIEF-2, clinical deficits in “Initiation” (44%), “Working memory” (42%) and “Shifting” (41%) were most commonly seen, while clinical deficits in the “Plan/Organize” function were least common (10.1%) in children with ADHD. Each of the “Cognitive”, “Emotional” and “Behavioral” regulation index scores fell within the clinical-deficit range for approximately 31.7% to 35.6% of children with ADHD. The “Self-monitor” (r=0.334) and “Emotion control” (r=0.527) problems were correlated only with hyperactivity severity, whereas “Initiation” (r=0.416) and “Working memory” (r=0.528) problems were only correlated with AD symptom severity.
Conclusion: Children with ADHD form a heterogeneous group in terms of the type of executive-function problem. The severity of each group of “Attention deficit” and “Hyperactivity” symptoms is correlated to problems in different types of executive-function.

Keywords

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Journal of Pediatric Perspectives
Volume 13, Issue 11
November 2025
Pages 19768-19779

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