Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry · Mar 1992
Specificity of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity to the diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were compared with non-ADHD psychiatric patients and normal controls on objective measures of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity to determine the specificity of these symptoms to ADHD. Inattention and impulsivity were assessed using a continuous performance test, and activity was measured using solid state actigraphs. ⋯ These data suggest that inattention may be a nonspecific symptom of child psychiatric disorder. However, ADHD may be uniquely characterized by overactivity.