The written expression abilities of adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often experience deficits in academic achievement. Written expression abilities in this population have not been extensively studied but existing prevalence estimates suggest that rates of comorbid writing underachievement may be substantially higher than rates of comorbid reading and mathematics underachievement. The current study examined written expression abilities in a school-based sample of 326 middle school age students with ADHD. The prevalence of written expression impairment, the associations between written expression and academic outcomes, and specific patterns of written expression were investigated. Students with ADHD in this sample experienced written expression impairment (17.2–22.4%) at a similar rate to reading impairment (17.0–24.3%) and at a slightly lower rate than mathematics impairment (24.7–36.3%). Students’ written expression abilities were significantly associated with school grades and parent ratings of academic functioning, above and beyond the influence of intelligence. Analyses of patterns suggest that students with ADHD exhibit greater deficits in written expression tasks requiring organization and attention to detail, especially in the context of a complex task.