Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2009 Mar;12(5):410-21.
doi: 10.1177/1087054708315065. Epub 2008 Apr 9.

Vigilance and sustained attention in children and adults with ADHD

Lara Tucha  1 , Oliver Tucha, Susanne Walitza, Thomas A Sontag, Rainer Laufkötter, Martin Linder, Klaus W Lange
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Vigilance and sustained attention in children and adults with ADHD

Lara Tucha et al. J Atten Disord. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: The present article tests the hypothesis of a sustained attention deficit in children and adults suffering from ADHD.

Method: Vigilance and sustained attention of 52 children with ADHD and 38 adults with ADHD were assessed using a computerized vigilance task. Furthermore, the attentional performance of healthy children (N = 52) and healthy adults (N = 38) was examined.

Results: Children and adults with ADHD performed significantly less well in the vigilance task than healthy participants (main effect for group). Furthermore, children and adults showed a significant decrease of performance over time (time-on-task effects). However, there was no greater decrement of performance with the passage of time in patient groups than in control groups (group-by-time interaction).

Conclusion: The present results do not support the hypothesis of a sustained attention deficit in children and adults with ADHD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources