Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and ADHD Inattention as Predictors of Externalizing, Internalizing, and Impairment Domains: A 2 Year Longitudinal Study
Although sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is distinct from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder inattention (ADHD IN) few studies have examined whether SCT longitudinally predicts other symptom or impairment dimensions. This study used 4 sources (mothers, fathers, primary teachers, and secondary teachers) and 3 occasions of measurement (first, second, and third grades) with 758 first grade (55 boys) 718 second grade (54 boys) and 585 third grade (53 boys) children from Spain to determine SCT's and ADHD IN's unique longitudinal relationships with psychopathology, academic impairment, and social impairment over the 1 and 2 year intervals (i.e. first to third grade, second to third grade) For 1 and 2 year intervals using both mothers' and fathers' ratings, higher levels of SCT uniquely predicted higher levels of anxiety, depression, academic impairment, and social impairment whereas higher levels of ADHD IN uniquely predicted higher levels of ADHD HI, ODD, and academic impairment. For 1 and 2 year intervals across different primary and secondary teachers (i.e. first/second and third grade ratings were provided by different teachers) higher scores on ADHD IN uniquely predicted poorer outcomes across domains whereas higher scores on SCT uniquely predicted lower levels of ADHD HI and ODD for both intervals in addition to higher levels of depression (for primary teachers only) academic impairment (for 1 year interval only) and peer rejection (2 year interval only for primary teachers) Overall, SCT was significantly associated with important outcomes independent of ADHD IN over 1 and 2 year intervals and across four different raters. This study provides further evidence for distinguishing between SCT and ADHD IN in home and school settings.
Journal of abnormal child psychology