Attention deficit in primary-school-age children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder measured with the attention network test: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Łucja Bieleninik; Gabriela Gradys; Angel M Dzhambov; Tamara Walczak-Kozłowska; Kornelia Lipowska; Ariadna Łada-Maśko; Katarzyna Sitnik-Warchulska; Paulina Anikiej-Wiczenbach; Michał Harciarek; Małgorzata Lipowska

doi:10.3389/fnins.2023.1246490

Attention deficit in primary-school-age children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder measured with the attention network test: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Neurosci. 2023 Dec 7:17:1246490. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1246490. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
² GAMUT-The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway.
³ Institute of Pedagogy and Languages, University of Applied Sciences in Elbla̧g, Elbla̧g, Poland.
⁴ Institute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
⁵ Environmental Health Division, Research Institute at Medical University of Plovdiv, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
⁶ Research Group "Health and Quality of Life in a Green and Sustainable Environment," Strategic Research and Innovation Program for the Development of MU-Plovdiv, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
⁷ Department of Hygiene, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
⁸ Institute of Highway Engineering and Transport Planning, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria.
⁹ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Abstract

Objective: To review and meta-analyze patterns of attention deficit in primary-school-age children with ADHD measured with the neuropsychological attention network test (ANT).

Methods: Six electronic databases were searched to 5.05.2022. Selection criteria included prospective cohort and intervention studies; ANT used; primary-school-age; diagnosis of ADHD/at high risk.

Results: Seven studies met inclusion criteria (N = 3,826). Compared with controls, children with ADHD had higher scores for Reaction Time (Hedges' g = 0.433; 95% CI: 0.135-0.731), Reaction Time Variability (Hedges' g = 0.334; 95% CI: 0.012-0.657), and Alerting Network (Hedges' g = 0.235; 95% CI: 0.021-0.449) while children at high risk had higher Alerting Network scores (Hedges' g = 0.176; 95% CI: 0.003-0.349) and Correctness scores (Hedges' g = 1.956; 95% CI: 0.020-3.892).

Conclusions: Children with ADHD and at risk of ADHD had different ANT results from children without ADHD only for the alerting network. There were no significant differences for executive and orienting outcomes. Children at risk of ADHD also made more errors (commission and omission) measured with the ANT compared with children without ADHD. Reaction time was longer and reaction time variability higher in children with ADHD than in children without ADHD, and in children at risk of ADHD compared with children without ADHD.

Preregistration: A protocol has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database (registration number: CRD42021249768).

Keywords: ADHD; ANT; a systematic review and meta-analysis; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; attention network task.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The costs of publishing the article was fully financed by “NeuroSmog: the impact of air pollution on the developing brain” no. POIR.04.04.00-00-1763/18 carried out within the TEAM NET programme of the Foundation for Polish Science co-financed by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund. AMD’s time on this manuscript is partially supported by the “Strategic Research and Innovation Program for the Development of Medical University–Plovdiv” No BG-RRP-2.004-0007-C01, Establishment of a Network of Research Higher Schools, National plan for recovery and resilience, financed by the European Union–NextGenerationEU. The funding bodies do not influence the design of the study and the writing of the manuscript.