Among an Array of Skills, which Emerges as the Greatest Resource for Students with ADHD?

Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019
Location: UCI Student Center
 
Presenter: Lara Barakat
Mentor: Susanne Jaeggi

Title: Among an Array of Skills, which Emerges as the Greatest Resource for Students with ADHD?

Abstract

​Creativity is considered to be a premier skill set in many domains. One of the core aspects of creativity is divergent thinking—or the ability to spontaneously generate multiple solutions to a problem. Previous research has found that adults with ADHD exhibit enhanced divergent thinking skills compared to their peers without ADHD; however, few studies have investigated whether these findings extend to children. For this project, we recruited 17 youth with ADHD (12=male, 5=female) and 36 youth without ADHD (20=male, 16=female) ages 10–18. Eligibility was determined based on parent self-report for participants ages 10–17 years, and self-report for participants age 18 years old. Creativity was measured by using the Abbreviated Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (ATTA). As data collection reaches completion (current n = 53, goal n = 60), a, independent two sample t-test was conducted to test whether there was a significant difference in divergent thinking between the two group. Preliminary findings suggest that there is no significant relationship between children with ADHD and higher divergent thinking (ADHD group: mean = 29.47, SD = 10.96; Control group: mean = 34.50, SD = 5.59; p=0.09). Future analyses will address whether creativity is a relative skill for children with ADHD by comparing participants’ performance on ATTA to performance on tests of crystallized and fluid intelligence.