Mardis Dunham

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and working memory in clinically referred adults

A current theory of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) implicates a dysfunction in working memory as a significant factor in ADHD. The Working Memory Indexes of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III; The Psychological Corporation, 1997a) and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition (WMS-III; The Psychological Corp--oration, 1997b) were used to evaluate this theory. Seventy adults clinically diagnosed with ADHD (mean age = 25) and who were previously administered the WAIS-III and WMS-III were reviewed to determine the association between working memory and ADHD symptomology. The respondent was asked to estimate the frequency of occurrence of ADHD symptoms by completing the Brown ADD Scales (Brown, 1996). Results indicated no significant relationship between working memory and self-reported symptoms, although the Working Memory Indexes of the WAIS-III and the WMS-III were significantly correlated. Implications for current ADHD theory and suggestions for future research were discussed

The Utility of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale in Assessment for Substance Use Disorder

This study explored the use of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) with a population of persons with a DSM-IV diagnosis of Substance Use Disorder who were court ordered for treatment. Two groups of adults (N = 40) were closely matched on age, gender, race, socioeconomic status and education level, and were administered the Person Picking an Apple From a Tree (PPAT) art assessment. The drawings were scored using the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (Gantt & Tabone, 1998). Acceptable inter-rater reliability was established on 9 of the 12 FEATS elements. Statistical analyses indicated that three FEATS elements in the PPAT accurately predicted group membership and that together, the 12 FEATS elements successfully distinguished the two groups with 85% accuracy. Implications of these findings for art therapy research and practice are discussed.

An Independent Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Differential Ability Scales

This study investigated the structure of the Differential Ability Scales (DAS; Elliott, 1990a) using confirmatory factor analysis with 130 normal school-aged children. Maximum likelihood estimation, using the six Core subtests, found an extremely good fit with the data and supported the DAS model proposed by Elliott (1990a). In addition, the six Core subtests were found to be strong measures of g, supporting their contribution to the General Conceptual Ability. Replication of Keiths (1990) final model, which included the six Core subtests and three Diagnostic subtests, was also conducted. This model was based on the same theoretical framework against which Keith (1990) tested his models. This theoretical framework was derived from a logical analysis of the nature of the subtests in light of prior research. The present study found a reasonably good fit for the data when the model included both the Core and Diagnostic subtests.

DIAGNOSING ATTENTION DISORDERS WITH MEASURES OF NEUROCOGNITIVE FUNCTIONING

The validity of the Differential Ability Scales (DAS; Elliott, 1990) in predicting attention disorders in school-aged children was examined. The participants were 40 children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 40 normal children between 7 and 12 years of age. Comorbidity was controlled by excluding children with ADHD who had a concurrent DSM-IV diagnosis such as reading disability, learning disability, mood disorder, or behavioral disorder. In addition, groups did not differ significantly by sex, age, racial/ethnic identification, or parental educational level. A stepwise discriminant analysis indicated the DAS correctly classified 72.5% of the total sample when either the Sequential and Quantitative Reasoning subtest or the Recall of Digits subtest was used to predict group membership. In general, the DAS core subtests were found to be good measures of cognitive ability in children classified with ADHD and did not appear to be influenced by attention problems.