| Abstract
Background: Cognitive functions are higher-order cortical activities that include various parameters such as concentration, executive function, and working memory.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare cognitive functions in three groups of Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD), Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD), and normal people.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study included patients with ADHD, IAD, and normal individuals who were evaluated by Conners’ Adult Scale, GeneralHealth Questionnaire(GHQ), Young Internet Addiction Test, and Persian Paper and Pencil Cognitive Assessment Package(PCAP). Data were analyzed by SPSS 23 software. The ANOVA test with Bonferroni’s pairwise comparison and chi-square
test were used for data analysis at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: In the present study, there were 26 normal individuals and 27 patients in each of the IAD and ADHD groups. The results
showed that the three groups were significantly different from each other in terms of the study subscales. The ADHD subjects scored
higher (P < 0.01) on the GHQ test and its subscales, as well as the Conners’ test. On the other hand, based on the Young Internet
Addiction Test, people with IAD had higher and more significant scores than the other two groups (P < 0.03). The results showed
that patients with adult ADHD had lower scores on attention, concentration, and working memory scales than IAD and normal
counterparts (P < 0.01).
Conclusions: The results showed that patients with ADHD had higher levels of impairment in working memory than IAD patients.
Meanwhile, cognitive deficits were more sensible in ADHD.
Keywords: Executive Function, Working Memory, Internet Addiction, Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder |