The impact of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder on adaptive functioning in children diagnosed late with autism spectrum disorder—A comparative analysis

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink at the bottom of the pageThis study investigated the relationship between ASD, ADHD and adaptive behavior in children aged 7-17 years at the time of their first ASD diagnosis. Results showed that 68.1% of the participants had a clinical diagnosis of ADHD in addition to ASD. A hypothesis of an additive negative effect of ADHD on adaptive behavior of children with ASD was partly supported. When controlling for age, gender, IQ and autistic symptoms, communication was the only adaptive behavior domain that remained significant. Further analyses of the data showed that this effect was limited to high functioning boys (IQ >= 80). The reasons why ADHD did not impinge on the adaptive behavior of low functioning boys and low and high functioning girls are discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Janssen-Cilag Novartis State Diagnostic Counseling Center fun