A new semi-nonverbal task glance, moderate role of cognitive flexibility in ADHD children’s theory of mind

Several studies have documented executive functions' impairment in children with ADHD and the link between Theory of Mind, executive functions and ADHD with different results. The findings in the literature are somewhat mixed, possibly because of a variety of tasks used. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between ToM and Executive Functions with nonlanguage based tasks. 30 ADHD children (7-9 years old) and 30 controls (age and IQ matched). All participants ToM were assessed using the Animated Triangles Paradigm task and two EF task (IED and SOC) from the neuropsychological battery of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Children with ADHD had a significant ToM and EF impairment relative to the control group. ToM was not significantly correlated with ET however, the performance on IED tasks affected the performance on ToM tasks. The study provides evidence for a link between intentionality subcomponent of ToM and inhibitory control of EF in ADHD children, which supports the hypothesis that inhibition may play a central role to explain the association between ToM and EF.