Differences in Attention Skill between Children with ADHD and Typically Developing Children in Indonesian Primary Schools

Abstract

Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common neuropsychological developmental disorder in children. ADHD is characterized by inattention, overactivity, and impulsivity. However, the attention skill is not clearly studied in children with ADHD in Indonesia. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the differences in attention skill between children with ADHD and typically developing children (TD), and identify the differences between ADHD subtypes at primary schools in Bandung city Indonesia in terms of the parameter of attention. Methods: This study used the quantitative method. The population of this study was children with ADHD and typically developing (TD) school-age children. The data sampling technique was purposive sampling, consisting of 30 children as a group of ADHD children and 30 children as a group of TD children. The instrument to collect data was Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), Indonesian ADHD Rating Scale (IARS), and The D2 test of attention. The analysis method used t-test and SPSS V.24 for Windows. Results: This study showed significant differences in attention skill performance between children with ADHD and TD children in the variables including the total number of tasks completed, omission, commission, error rate, total amount minus errors or selective attention skill, fluctuation rate and concentration performance. There have been observed significant differences between ADHD subtypes in terms of total number, omission, commission, error rate, total amount minus errors or selective attention skill, and concentration performance. Conclusion: Children with ADHD were found to have lower results than typically developing children in terms of attention skill, inhibiting control, and ability in performance accuracy. Children with ADHD-C subtypes were found to have more inattentive tendencies, hyperactive, and impulsive compared to ADHD-I and ADHD-H. ADHD-C subtype showed more deficits than ADHD-I and ADHD-H in response inhibition and accuracy of performance.