A Preliminary Study of Motor Problems in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

Although many children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are described as “clumsy,” there is relatively little research on problems in motor development in this population. We used a survey method to assess retrospectively developmental histories of 25 children with ADHD and 27 control children (ages 8–15 years). Children with ADHD reportedly had more difficulty than control children with both learning and performing a variety of motor skills, e.g., tying shoes, printing letters, playing sports. In contrast, parents reported few problems in their children's language development. Severity of motor problems was related to performance on specific IQ indices and reading and spelling tests. Given previous research on adverse consequences of clumsiness in children with attention deficits, results of this preliminary study indicate that further research on motor development can shed light on the developmental psychopathology of ADHD.