Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T11:13:09.668Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Deficits in motor control processes involved in production of graphic movements of children with attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2005

Marina M Schoemaker
Affiliation:
Institute of Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands.
Cees E J Ketelaars
Affiliation:
University Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Marion van Zonneveld
Affiliation:
University Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Ruud B Minderaa
Affiliation:
University Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Theo Mulder
Affiliation:
Institute of Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands.
Get access

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether two distinct motor control processes, i.e. motor planning and parameter setting, were impaired in children with attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). An experiment was designed in which children copied figures of increasing complexity under increasing accuracy levels on a digitizer. Sixteen children with ADHD (11 males, 5 females; mean age 8y 4mo, SD1y 1mo) and 16 comparison children, without impairment, matched for age and sex participated. ADHD was diagnosed by a psychiatrist following the criteria of the DSM-V. Only children with IQ scores greater than 80 were included. Across all graphic tasks, children with ADHD made slower, inaccurate strokes with relatively high axial pen force compared with the comparison group. No evidence was found for a deficit in motor planning, but parameter setting appeared to be deficient as the ADHD group made less accurate strokes when accuracy demands increased.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
© 2005 Mac Keith Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)