AUTHOR=Navarro-Soria Ignasi , Juárez-Ruiz de Mier Rocío , García-Fernández José Manuel , González-Gómez Carlota , Real-Fernández Marta , Sánchez-Múñoz de León Marta , Lavigne-Cervan Rocío 

TITLE=Detection of Executive Performance Profiles Using the ENFEN Battery in Children Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.552322

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.552322

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children and adolescents. Those who suffer from it are characterized by presenting difficulties in the processes of sustained attention, being very active and having poor control of their impulses. Despite the high prevalence of this disorder and the existence of various tests used for its diagnosis, few data is available regarding the usefulness and diagnostic validity of these tools. Given the difficulties that these subjects present in Executive Functions, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether the Neuropsychological Assessment of Executive Functions battery for Children (ENFEN, for its acronym in Spanish, Portellano et al., 2009), allows to establish specific profiles of executive performance for people with ADHD. The sample was made up of 197 participants of both sexes, aged between 6 and 13 years of age (134 with a clinical diagnosis and 63 without pathology). A non-experimental design was followed, using a comparative descriptive study. The results indicated that the scales of Phonological Fluency, Colour Path, Rings and Interference are the most associated with the diagnosis of ADHD, providing data on inhibition, mental flexibility, sustained and selective attention, planning, verbal fluency and working memory, amongst others. The practical implication of these results is in line with providing support in the clinical diagnosis that is carried out in children's mental health units. In addition, the ENFEN tool can be valued as a suitable psychometric instrument in the psychoeducational field, helping professionals in a school environment to be more aware of the areas of cognitive development in which a student diagnosed with ADHD will have more difficulties, and in doing so, providing more adjusted and effective psychopedagogical measures when it comes to supporting students in their adaptation to the school environment.