An exploratory study of the Rorschach responses of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a heterogeneous disorder of childhood that may have serious negative outcomes without intervention. Because current research has not yet comprehensively addressed the psychological functioning of children with ADHD, a study using the Rorschach Inkblot test was proposed to determine how children with ADHD might differ from normal children and whether a pattern of psychological functioning could be determined.;Twenty-three boys age 8 to 11 with ADHD (13 LD and 10 non-LD) were compared to 20 normal boys on Rorschach variables. All subjects were free of other serious behavioral, emotional, or neurological disorders. Variables were examined related to four areas of functioning thought to be vulnerable in children with ADHD. Using an analysis of variance with covariates of age, and WISC-R or WISC-III Vocabulary and Block Design subtest scores, or chi square, variables were compared between ADHD/control groups and LD/non-LD subgroups. Probability set at.01 for multiple comparisons found no significant differences, but significant differences of p ;In the area of Cognitive Processing, comprised of three subcategories, ADHD subjects were hypothesized to be lower in cognitive control, but no significant differences were found. In cognitive ability, ADHD subjects showed a trend toward being lower in quality of responses, but were significantly higher in effort. LD subjects showed a trend toward being lower in efficiency than non-LD subjects. On perceptual accuracy, ADHD subjects were significantly lower than controls on F+% and X+%. On Xu%, LD subjects showed a trend toward being higher than non-LD subjects, and on ;Only one trend was found in the variables of Negative Affect in which situational stress was suggested for LD subjects. No differences were found on three variables addressing Interpersonal Relations. In Coping Abilities, no differences were found on D and Adj D scores in the main groups, but LD subjects showed a trend toward being lower on D score than non-LD subjects. Overall, a pattern of functioning in children with ADHD was identified. Further research was suggested for other homogeneous groups of ADHD subjects.