Utility of the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test—Second Edition in the Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder'

Abstract

This study examined the use of the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test–Second Edition (BGT–II) with children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Previous research has examined the relationship of ADHD and visual-motor functioning based on overall developmental scores or specific emotional indicators. Although several studies have examined the relationship of the previous edition of the BGT–II and ADHD symptoms, psychometric issues associated with the original edition limit the validity of the results. The current study examined the utility of the BGT–II in the assessment of behaviors associated with ADHD. A group of 62 subjects diagnosed with ADHD (M = 11 yr., 5 mo.; 45 male, 17 female) was compared to a control group of 62 subjects randomly selected from the BGT–II standardization data (M= 11 yr., 6 mo; 33 male, 29 female). Several hypotheses were made regarding how areas of deficit, e.g., self-regulation, planning, working memory, and motor control, were expected to manifest in BGT–II performance. With IQ controlled, subjects with ADHD performed more poorly on the BGT–II than subjects with no known disorders; however, the effect size was small (rip2= .07). Emotional indicators intended to assess symptoms of ADHD did not demonstrate diagnostic utility.