Review of the evidence suggests that  task performance  may be useful in identifying individuals with ADHD at risk for academic impairment .
However , the evidence is less compelling for identifying youth at risk for impaired social functioning or poor health outcomes .
The review also found that task performance is likely useful for predicting response to treatment with methylpheni date .
Across studies , evidence indicated that interpreting task performance in an integrated manner , such as a factor score or mean score , was more consistently useful for predicting outcomes of interest than interpreting performance from a single task .
The role that neuropsychological task performance plays in the assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD ) is currently ambiguous , and findings are mixed regarding whether tasks have validity for diagnosing the disorder .
Irrespective of their validity for diagnosing ADHD , neuropsychological tasks could provide valuable information to mental health professionals if they can inform recommendations for treatment targets and modalities .
Therefore , this review sought to synthesize the available evidence related to the use of neuropsychological task performance as a tool for informing treatment planning for youth with ADHD .
Review ed studies focused on examinations of associations between task performance and academic , social , and health outcomes , as well as response to treatment .
Childhood Executive Function Continues to Predict Outcomes in Young Adult Females with and Without Childhood-Diagnosed ADHD
We prospect ively followed an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of preadolescent girls with ADHD ( n = 140 ) and matched comparison girls ( n = 88 ) over a period of 10 years , from middle childhood through late adolescence/young adulthood . Our aim was to examine the ability of childhood measures of executive function ( EF ) to predict functional outcomes at follow-up . Measures of EF comprised the childhood predictors , with academic , socioemotional , occupational , and global functioning serving as young adult criterion measures . Results indicated that childhood EF – particularly measures of global EF and working memory – predicted academic and occupational functioning across our entire sample ( independent of diagnostic group status ) , but diagnostic status ( ADHD versus comparison ) moderated the association between ( a ) working memory and reading achievement and ( b ) a global EF measure and suspensions/expulsions . That is , in the ADHD group , low working memory predicted poor reading scores and impaired global EF predicted higher suspensions/expulsions , but this was not the case in the comparison group . Overall , these results extend previous findings of associations between EF and adolescent outcomes in girls with and without ADHD into young adulthood . Findings continue to suggest the importance of assessing and developing interventions that target EF impairments early in life in order to prevent long-term difficulties across a range of important functional domains
Review of the evidence suggests that  task performance  may be useful in identifying individuals with ADHD at risk for academic impairment .
However , the evidence is less compelling for identifying youth at risk for impaired social functioning or poor health outcomes .
The review also found that task performance is likely useful for predicting response to treatment with methylpheni date .
Across studies , evidence indicated that interpreting task performance in an integrated manner , such as a factor score or mean score , was more consistently useful for predicting outcomes of interest than interpreting performance from a single task .
The role that neuropsychological task performance plays in the assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD ) is currently ambiguous , and findings are mixed regarding whether tasks have validity for diagnosing the disorder .
Irrespective of their validity for diagnosing ADHD , neuropsychological tasks could provide valuable information to mental health professionals if they can inform recommendations for treatment targets and modalities .
Therefore , this review sought to synthesize the available evidence related to the use of neuropsychological task performance as a tool for informing treatment planning for youth with ADHD .
Review ed studies focused on examinations of associations between task performance and academic , social , and health outcomes , as well as response to treatment .