Creativity and Intelligence in Primary School Children with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between creativity and intelligence for children with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). First, this study explored if children with ADHD (n =22) were more creative than children without any diagnosis (n = 532). Second, intelligence scores were compared between children with ADHD and children without any diagnosis. Lastly, the study also examined if children with a higher intelligence were more creative. Results showed that children with ADHD were not more creative than children without any diagnosis (p = .494). Likewise, there was no difference in verbal intelligence (p = .515) and visual-spatial intelligence (p = .218) between both groups. Besides that, it appears that higher intelligent children without any diagnosis were more creative (p < .001). Finally, this study found that there was no difference in the relation between verbal intelligence (p =. 936) or visual-spatial intelligence (p = .276) and creativity for children with ADHD and without any diagnosis. These findings have implications for the support of children with ADHD in inclusive education, because children with ADHD demonstrate different problem behaviors and experience difficulties in regular classrooms. Therefore it is valuable to know the strengths and possibilities of children with ADHD, so that these can be used to support these children in an appropriate way.