Poster #118 - Children with elevated ADHD traits show impairments in application, but not knowledge of pragmatic language

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Language, Communication

Integrative Statement

Existing work shows that children with elevated ADHD traits face challenges with being able to effectively communicate within their everyday environments (e.g., Ketelaars et al., 2010; Leonard et al., 2011); however, other work suggests that they possess appropriate awareness of what they should be saying in a given context (e.g., Kim & Kaiser, 2000; Rints et al., 2014). Thus, the communicative challenges of children with elevated ADHD traits could arise from deficits in applying pragmatic language knowledge rather than in lack of knowledge per se. Difficulties in the application of pragmatic language may be explained by weakness in executive functioning (EF) skills, which are frequently demonstrated by some, but not all, children with elevated ADHD traits (Fair et al., 2012).

The present study investigated three main questions: (1) Do children’s ADHD traits relate to their performance on a pragmatic knowledge task and/or a measure of pragmatic language use?; (2) Is there a difference in the magnitude of these relationships?; (3) Do children’s executive functioning skills impact the magnitude of the relationship between ADHD traits and their pragmatic language knowledge or use? Children (ages 8 – 11; N = 50) completed a pragmatic judgment task assessing knowledge of pragmatic language (CASL; Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999) and two EF tasks (working memory and inhibitory control). Parents completed questionnaires assessing their child’s communication skills (CCC-2; Bishop, 2003) and EF skills in everyday situations. A composite score from the CCC-2 assessing children’s demonstration of pragmatic skills (inappropriate initiation, coherence, stereotyped conversation, use of context, and nonverbal communication) was used for analyses (Bishop, 1998).

Results indicated that, controlling for age and gender, children’s level of ADHD traits did not relate to their knowledge of pragmatic rules, as assessed through the CASL. However, children with elevated ADHD traits were rated by parents as being weaker in applying pragmatic language skills in everyday communicative situations on the CCC-2 (p < .001). The difference in magnitude between these correlations was found to be statistically significant (p = .03). No significant association was found between children’s performance on the CASL and CCC-2. Children’s working memory was found to marginally moderate the relation between ADHD traits and pragmatic language use (p = .072). No other moderators emerged (as per performance-based tasks or parent reports).

Findings of this work are consistent with previous work in that children with elevated ADHD traits were found to show impairments in their everyday communicative behaviour and extend existing work by showing that these impairments appear not to be driven by a lack of pragmatic language knowledge. That is, ADHD traits were not found to be related to knowledge of pragmatic rules. Findings hint at the role of working memory as a possible factor behind the difficulties children with elevated ADHD traits show in their communicative contexts. However, there are likely other aspects of the ADHD profile interfering with children’s communication, such as possessing the processing speed to keep up with fast-paced social interactions or sustaining the attention needed to maintain focus during conversations, which warrant further investigation.

Authors

• Sarah Bacso, University of Waterloo
  Presenting Author

• Shanan Floto, University of Waterloo
  Non-Presenting Author

• Janel Silva, University of Waterloo
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Nilsen, University of Waterloo
  Non-Presenting Author