# Cognitive Profiles of Children with Reading Disabilities and/or ADHD

## TL;DR

This study compares cognitive abilities in children with reading disabilities, ADHD, or both, finding distinct and overlapping challenges that suggest the need for targeted interventions.

## Contribution

The study identifies additive cognitive deficits in children with comorbid RD and ADHD, supporting a model where challenges are cumulative rather than interactive.

## Key findings

- Children with comorbid ADHD + RD showed significant deficits in attention, inhibition, and rapid automatized naming.
- The typically developing group outperformed all others across all cognitive domains.
- RD and ADHD each uniquely impact working memory and inhibition, respectively, with additive effects observed in comorbid cases.

## Abstract

Building on prior work, this study examined cognitive profiles of children with reading disabilities (RD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and their comorbidity (ADHD + RD) compared to typically developing (TD) peers. Participants included 151 Grade 1–3 students, where there were 31 students with RD, 43 with ADHD, 27 with ADHD + RD, and 50 TD in China. Children were assessed in four cognitive domains: attention, inhibition, working memory, and rapid automatized naming (RAN), with age statistically controlled. Significant group differences emerged in each domain. The TD group consistently outperformed all groups. The comorbid ADHD + RD group showed pronounced deficits in attention, inhibition, and RAN. One-way ANCOVAs and multivariate analyses indicated that both RD and ADHD groups showed weaknesses in attention and RAN, with RD group weaker in working memory and ADHD group in inhibition. A 2 × 2 factorial ANCOVA confirmed significant main effects of RD and/or ADHD across domains, with no significant interaction effects, supporting an additive model. Findings highlight distinct and overlapping cognitive challenges associated with RD and ADHD and underscore the need for domain-specific intervention planning.