The efficacy of the Senior South African Individual Scale Revised in distinguishing between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, normal and sluggish cognitive tempo children

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to determine whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and a non-clinical (NC) group of learners perform differently on the Senior South African Individual Scale Revised (SSAIS-R). The rationale for this study is based on literature that argues for SCT to be considered as a separate and unique disorder to ADHD. The SSAIS-R results of 618 (7–17 years of age) children were analysed for the purposes of this study. The total sample consisted of three groups, that is, ADHD (n = 106), NC (n = 427) and SCT (n = 85). Between-group t-tests were performed to test for significant differences between the three groups with regard to the different SSAIS-R subtests. The results indicated significant differences between NC and ADHD, NC and SCT but not between ADHD and SCT. These results suggest that if SCT is considered to be a separate disorder from ADHD, then this is not evident in terms of the performance on the SSAIS-R. It is recommended that other cognitive and neuropsychological assessments be included in future research to ascertain whether SCT, if it exists, affects performance differently to ADHD.