ADHD, IQ, and Giftedness

Summary

In this commentary, Russ Barkley explores the relationship between ADHD and intelligence, dispelling myths that individuals with ADHD are more likely to be gifted or highly intelligent. He presents research showing a slight negative correlation between ADHD severity and intelligence levels, with untreated individuals scoring about 7-10 points lower on average. Barkley also addresses the claim that gifted individuals may exhibit more ADHD symptoms due to boredom, finding little evidence to support this. He concludes that while ADHD and giftedness can coexist, they are distinct and do not significantly overlap.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The relationship between ADHD and intelligence has been a topic of discussion for over 30 years, with claims that individuals with ADHD may be more likely to be gifted or have high intelligence levels.
• 📉 There is a negative correlation between the severity of ADHD symptoms and intelligence, with individuals with ADHD scoring on average 7 to 10 points lower on IQ tests compared to the general population.
• 📚 The bell curve of intelligence in the general population shows that most people fall within the average range, but there are also those who are significantly above or below the norm.
• 💡 People with ADHD span the entire range of intelligence, from intellectually disabled to gifted, but on average, untreated individuals with ADHD tend to score slightly below the norm.
• 🤔 One theory suggests that individuals with ADHD may not perform well on IQ tests due to their symptoms interfering with test-taking behavior.
• 💊 Studies have shown that medication can improve test-taking behavior in individuals with ADHD, accounting for some of the IQ score differences.
• 🧠 Another theory is that ADHD may affect executive functioning, which is a significant component of IQ, thus impacting intelligence scores.
• 🔍 Research has also considered the possibility that some individuals with ADHD may have acquired brain injuries that could contribute to lower intelligence levels.
• 🙅‍♂️ Contrary to some claims, the evidence does not support the idea that people with ADHD are more likely to be gifted or have higher intelligence than others.
• 🎓 A study in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction found that the disorder of ADHD is the same in both gifted and non-gifted individuals with ADHD, but gifted individuals tend to have milder symptoms.
• 🤷‍♂️ The claim that gifted individuals are more likely to be misdiagnosed with ADHD due to boredom in the classroom lacks substantial evidence and is considered unlikely.

Q & A

What is the main topic of Russ Barkley's commentary?

The main topic of Russ Barkley's commentary is the relationship between ADHD, intelligence, and giftedness, addressing claims about the likelihood of individuals with ADHD being gifted or having high intelligence levels.

What is the bell curve used to represent in the script?

The bell curve is used to represent the distribution of intelligence in the general population, with most people falling within the average range and others at either end of the spectrum, being either intellectually gifted or deficient.

What is the correlation between the severity of ADHD symptoms and intelligence level as mentioned in the script?

The script mentions a negative correlation of about 0.3 between the severity of ADHD symptoms and intelligence level, indicating that individuals with more severe ADHD symptoms tend to score slightly lower on intelligence tests.

How much lower on average are the IQ scores of individuals with untreated ADHD compared to the general population?

On average, untreated individuals with ADHD score about seven to ten points lower on IQ tests compared to the general population.

What are some reasons suggested in the script for the lower IQ scores observed in individuals with ADHD?

The script suggests reasons such as difficulties in test-taking due to ADHD symptoms, interference with executive functioning, and the possibility of some individuals with ADHD having acquired brain injuries that could affect intellectual capacity.

What was found in studies comparing gifted individuals with and without ADHD?

Studies found that gifted individuals with ADHD have ADHD symptoms that are still significant but slightly less severe than those in the general population with ADHD, and that gifted individuals without ADHD are less likely to have ADHD symptoms.

What does the script suggest about the overlap between giftedness and ADHD?

The script suggests that giftedness and ADHD are distinct and do not overlap significantly. When they do coexist, one is not explaining the other, and the presence of ADHD does not necessarily imply giftedness or vice versa.

What is the claim made in some circles about gifted individuals being more likely to have ADHD due to boredom in the classroom?

The claim is that gifted individuals, who may be unchallenged and bored in the classroom, are more likely to exhibit ADHD symptoms and thus be diagnosed with ADHD.

What does the script conclude about the validity of the claim that gifted individuals are more likely to have ADHD?

The script concludes that the claim lacks evidence and is not supported by research. In fact, gifted individuals are found to be less likely to show symptoms of ADHD.

What attributes of gifted individuals were discussed in the script, and how do they relate to ADHD?

The script discussed attributes such as learning characteristics, creativity, motivational characteristics, and leadership traits of gifted individuals. It concludes that these attributes do not overlap with ADHD and in many cases are opposite to the symptoms of ADHD.

What is the final conclusion of the script regarding the relationship between ADHD and giftedness or high intelligence?

The final conclusion of the script is that the claims made over the past 30 years about individuals with ADHD being more likely to be gifted or have high intelligence levels are not true. People with ADHD have the same range of intelligence as the general population, with a slightly negative average difference in IQ points.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 ADHD and Intelligence: Myths and Realities

Russ Barkley discusses the relationship between ADHD and intelligence, debunking the myth that individuals with ADHD are more likely to be gifted or highly intelligent. He explains that while people with ADHD can range from intellectually disabled to gifted, on average, they score slightly lower on IQ tests. This slight decrease is attributed to the negative correlation between ADHD severity and intelligence level, with untreated individuals typically scoring about 7 to 10 points lower than the norm. Barkley also considers the impact of ADHD on executive functioning and test-taking behavior, which may contribute to the observed differences in IQ scores.

05:02

🤔 Giftedness Among Those with ADHD: Misconceptions Addressed

The script addresses the misconception that gifted individuals are more likely to have ADHD due to boredom in the classroom. Barkley refutes this claim by citing research that shows no significant evidence supporting it. Studies have found that gifted individuals with ADHD have milder symptoms compared to those with ADHD who are not gifted. The narrative emphasizes that giftedness and ADHD are distinct and do not overlap significantly, and while they can coexist, the presence of one does not explain the other.

10:03

📚 Attributes of Gifted Individuals vs. ADHD: A Clear Distinction

This paragraph delves into the attributes of gifted individuals and contrasts them with the symptoms of ADHD, highlighting that they are not the same and often oppose each other. Barkley cites an article from the journal Apex that examines the characteristics of gifted individuals, such as self-motivation, persistence, and the ability to work independently, which are not symptoms of ADHD and in some cases are the opposite. The paragraph concludes that while people with ADHD can be gifted, the attributes of giftedness are distinct from those of ADHD, and the two conditions can coexist without one causing the other.

Keywords

💡ADHD

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. In the script, it is discussed in relation to its correlation with intelligence and giftedness. The speaker refutes the claim that people with ADHD are more likely to be gifted, stating that there is a slight negative correlation between ADHD severity and intelligence.

💡Intelligence

Intelligence, as used in the script, refers to the cognitive ability to learn, reason, and understand complex ideas. It is measured by IQ (Intelligence Quotient) tests, and the script discusses its distribution in the general population, represented by the bell curve, and its relationship with ADHD.

💡Giftedness

Giftedness is the natural capacity for high levels of intellectual or creative thought. The script addresses the misconception that there is a higher likelihood of giftedness in individuals with ADHD and clarifies that gifted individuals can have ADHD, but it is not more prevalent among them than in the general population.

💡Bell Curve

The bell curve, or normal distribution, is a statistical representation used in the script to illustrate the distribution of intelligence in the general population. It shows that most people fall within the average range of intelligence, with fewer individuals at the extremes of high and low intelligence.

💡IQ

IQ, or Intelligence Quotient, is a measure of a person's cognitive abilities relative to their age group. The script uses IQ as a metric to discuss the average intelligence level and how it is affected by ADHD, with untreated individuals with ADHD scoring slightly lower on average.

💡Correlation

Correlation in the script refers to a statistical relationship between two variables, in this case, the severity of ADHD symptoms and the level of intelligence. A negative correlation of about 0.3 indicates that as ADHD symptoms increase, intelligence levels tend to decrease slightly.

💡Executive Functioning

Executive functioning is a set of cognitive processes that include working memory, decision-making, and self-regulation. The script suggests that ADHD may interfere with executive functioning, which could partially explain the lower average IQ scores observed in individuals with ADHD.

💡Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis in the context of the script refers to the incorrect assignment of ADHD to gifted individuals who may exhibit inattention due to boredom. The speaker argues against this notion, stating that being bored does not equate to having ADHD.

💡Brain Injury

Brain injury is mentioned in the script as a possible cause for some individuals with ADHD, suggesting that acquired ADHD (not genetic) could be due to brain injuries sustained prenatally, during early childhood, or later in life, which might contribute to lower intelligence levels in some cases.

💡Acquired ADHD

Acquired ADHD refers to cases where ADHD is not inherited but developed due to brain injuries or other factors. The script mentions that a significant percentage of individuals with ADHD may have acquired it, which could affect their intelligence levels.

💡Self-Motivation

Self-motivation is the ability to initiate and persist in tasks without external influence. The script contrasts this trait, which is common in gifted individuals, with the self-motivational deficits often seen in individuals with ADHD, highlighting the differences between the two groups.

Highlights

Russ Barkley discusses the relationship between ADHD and intelligence, specifically addressing the claim that individuals with ADHD may be more likely to be gifted.

There is a negative correlation between the severity of ADHD and level of intelligence, with an average IQ difference of 7-10 points lower in untreated individuals with ADHD compared to the general population.

People with ADHD span the entire range of intelligence, from intellectually disabled to gifted, but on average, untreated individuals with ADHD have a slightly lower IQ.

The possibility that ADHD symptoms interfere with test-taking behavior, potentially contributing to the observed lower IQ scores.

ADHD may have a direct effect on IQ due to its adverse impact on executive functioning, which is a significant component of IQ tests.

Some individuals with ADHD may have acquired brain injuries that could explain some of the lower intelligence levels observed.

Contrary to a claim made over 30 years ago, people with ADHD are not more likely to be gifted or have higher levels of intelligence.

A study in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction compared children with ADHD who are gifted to those who are not, finding that ADHD symptoms are milder in gifted individuals.

Gifted individuals with ADHD are found to have less severe symptoms compared to those with ADHD who are not gifted.

Giftedness and ADHD are distinct and do not overlap significantly; when they coexist, one does not explain the other.

The claim that gifted children are more likely to be misdiagnosed with ADHD due to boredom in the classroom is not supported by evidence.

An article in the journal Apex finds that gifted individuals are less likely to show symptoms of ADHD.

Attributes of gifted individuals, such as high self-motivation and independence, are often the opposite of what is observed in ADHD.

The one attribute of gifted individuals that overlaps with ADHD is the tendency to be easily bored with routine tasks.

Barkley concludes that the claims made over the past 30 years about the intelligence and giftedness of individuals with ADHD are not true; they are just like the typical population.

Individuals with ADHD can be gifted, and gifted people can have ADHD, but these conditions do not inherently correlate.

Transcripts

hi everyone Russ Barkley here and in

today's commentary I want to speak with

you about the relationship of ADHD to

intelligence in general and specifically

to giftedness claims have been made

going back some 30 or more years now

that people with ADHD particularly

adults may be more likely to be gifted

than other individuals or certainly of

high levels of intelligence we've also

heard the reverse claim the possibility

that gifted individuals may be more

likely to have ADHD and manifested in

the classroom primarily because they're

bored I'm going to look at both sides of

that argument but let's begin with this

Association of ADHD with intelligence

and I'm going to use this particular

friend of ours the old bell curve and

here we see the bell curve of

intelligence in the general population

and most people place here within the

average range but we also have

individuals who are way up here about

two standard deviations above the norm

the norm being about an IQ of a hundred

plus or minus 15 and this being IQs of

about 130 or higher depending on how you

want to Define giftedness and then of

course there's a group of individuals

who place at the lower end of the bell

curve and we would consider these

individuals to be intellectually

deficient and what used to be called

mental retardation but obviously that ID

diagnosis is based on other things

besides IQ but the point is here's our

range of intelligence in the population

what do we see in research on ADHD first

we see that there is a negative

correlation between severity of ADHD and

level of intelligence correlation is

about 0.3 means that the 2 two traits

share about nine percent variation and

the higher your ADHD symptoms are you're

going to be slightly below the norm

average about seven to ten points lower

than individuals in the typical

population so it's a very small

difference people with ADHD span the

whole range of intelligence from

intellectually disabled all the way up

to gifted but on average as a group

untreated individuals with ADHD Place

slightly lower than the typical

population they would have a bell curve

and its peak would be somewhere right

about here in other words the two curves

would overlap substantially

that's my point people with ADHD span

the entire range of typical

people but their Peak IQ would be

somewhere right around it here again

about seven to ten points lower than

average that's been found in hundreds of

studies meta-analyzes of measures of

intelligence and executive functioning

and so on so it's a fact in the bag it's

not disputable

on the other hand why does that occur

one possibility is that people with ADHD

don't take IQ tests very well their

symptoms interfere with test taking

makes perfect sense there have been

studies that have looked at that and

they've put some individuals with ADHD

on medication and other individuals not

they've also tested people on and off

their medication and what they find is

that yes test taking Behavior does

account for a few points in this seven

to ten point difference

so correct test taking could be part of

the problem in other words there's not

as much of a difference between ADHD and

typical people other than in test taking

the second possibility is that ADHD

interferes with executive functioning

we've talked about that in many of my

lectures here

about 40 percent of your IQ is executive

functioning roughly we can see that

because some of the subtests on IQ tests

are things like working memory among

other executive functions so it's

possible that there is a direct effect

of ADHD on IQ because of its adverse

effect on the executive function so that

could explain a few percentage points

here and Studies have been done that

have controlled for executive

functioning and looked at these IQ

differences and indeed

some of the IQ difference is related to

Executive functioning deficits but not

all of it

so there's a few percentage points left

that is not explained by test taking or

by executive functioning it's possible

that those few points lower an IQ are

the result of some people with ADHD have

acquired their ADHD it's resulted in

brain injury and that brain injury would

explain some of the lower intellect in

those individuals upwards of about 25 to

35 percent of people with ADHD acquired

it they didn't inherit it it's not

genetic it's the result of injuries to

the brain either prenatally during brain

development or in early childhood such

as traumatic brain injury or later in

adulthood for a variety of causes so

that might explain some of the residual

differences again people with ADHD span

the same range of intelligence as people

without ADHD but overall on average

there's slightly lower levels of

intelligence for various reasons what

does that mean

are people with ADHD therefore more

likely than typical people to be gifted

absolutely not if anything all of this

evidence suggests the opposite there's a

slightly lower percentage

of giftedness among those with ADHD it's

probably very small you'd have to have

huge studies samples that is to find it

but the point is all this evidence gives

the lie to the claim that was started

more than 30 years ago that people with

ADHD are more likely to be gifted or of

higher levels of intelligence

than other individuals they're not

they're just like the rest of us they

span the entire range of intelligence so

there you have it people with ADHD are

not more likely to be gifted now let's

move on to a couple of papers here that

I want to talk about

let's take a look at our people who have

ADHD and are gifted

different from other people who are

gifted or different from people with

ADHD who aren't gifted this is a study

of children there are several like this

I'm just going to illustrate this one

that's in the international Journal of

mental health and addiction and they

compared children at all three of those

groups typical but gifted

ADHD and gifted and just ADHD average

not gifted what did they find what they

found is that the disorder of ADHD is

the same

in the gifted and non-gifted ADHD group

but the gifted individuals had slightly

less severe symptoms still met the

criteria but milder symptoms and we've

seen this as I said in other studies so

if anything what we see is that gifted

individuals are slightly less likely to

have ADHD and if they do have ADHD it's

somewhat less severe than the typical

population but the differences are

pretty minor if we compare gifted people

with ADHD to gifted people without ADHD

we of course see that the gifted with

ADHD have massive symptoms of ADHD after

all they met the diagnostic criteria for

it

but what does all of this mean in these

comparisons it means that giftedness and

ADHD are two distinct things and they

don't overlap very much at all

and when they do overlap you're gifted

and your ADHD you can have both of these

conditions it's not like one is

masquerading as the other it's not as if

the gifted people are more likely to

have ADHD or ADHD people are more likely

to be gifted the two conditions can

coexist and probably do so at about the

same rate in the population maybe a

little bit less likely to be ADHD among

the gifted now let's look at the reverse

claim and that is that kids who are

gifted let me go to the top here are

more likely to be called ADHD and to

have ADHD after all if they're

unchallenged in the classroom and

they're bored the claim is that they're

going to show a lot of ADHD type

symptoms first of all I find this going

to be ridiculous just being bored

doesn't put you in the clinical range of

ADHD or where you've got at least six to

twelve

of the symptoms of ADHD to a significant

clinical degree that just doesn't make

any sense so yeah you might be a little

bored and a little inattentive but I

don't find that particularly compelling

so where did this idea come from

well this article examines the

background for this claim and finds that

there's very little of any evidence for

the idea that gifted people are more

likely to have ADHD

this is in the journal Apex and as you

can see here excuse me it's by Kylie

Edwards but if we go on down here what

we find is that gifted individuals are

less likely to show symptoms of ADHD

which we found in those other research

papers not more likely to have the

symptoms of ADHD and what this article

does is to go through and call pull

together the

comments of experts teachers and others

on what are the attributes of gifted

individuals and are those attributes in

any way overlapping with ADHD and we can

see here multiple attributes in the area

of learning characteristics the gifted

demonstrate a variety

of Behavioral and cognitive attributes

that are different from typical

individuals but if you'll scan down this

list none of these overlap with ADHD in

fact if anything people with ADHD would

be less likely to demonstrate some of

these particular learning attributes

such as independently seeks to discover

why and how things happen and formulates

ideas with evidence and so on I mean

people with ADH are likely to do that

too but that's not part of their ADHD

certainly not a DSM symptom in the area

of creativity if we look down this list

none of these symptoms of giftedness if

we can call them that attributes of

giftedness overlap with ADHD again if

anything they go in the opposite

direction

that's especially true here when we look

at the motivational characteristics of

gifted individuals self-directed High

self-motivation very persistent very

committed reliable and so on and prefer

to work independently these are almost

the Opposites of the complaints we hear

from people with ADHD because of their

self-motivational and executive and

self-regulatory deficits and then

finally down here look at leadership

characteristics and you'll see that none

of these are symptoms of ADHD in any way

and if we go and take a look at that

self-determination set of

characteristics again we see little if

any overlap with symptoms of ADHD often

the opposite except One symptom that

I've highlighted here is easily bored

with routine tasks that's it

so

based on this we can say that the

attributes of gifted people are not the

attributes of ADHD in many cases they're

the opposite of that

we can also conclude that people with

ADHD can be gifted

and gifted people come out ADHD and when

we see the two together both occur

together one isn't explaining the other

and as I've said we've already shown

that people with ADHD span the entire

range of typical population IQ they're

just like us if there's a small

difference it's slightly negative a few

IQ points lower on average

but individuals with ADHD can span the

whole range from intellectually disabled

all the way up to gifted as I've said

before so I think we can say that these

claims that were made over the past 30

years of people with ADHD being highly

intelligent people with ADHD being more

likely to be gifted and also the

opposite gifted people being more likely

to be ADHD are not true

people with ADHD are just like the

typical population in these attributes

so thanks for joining me for this

commentary and I hope you see around

this Channel with other commentaries and

news on recent research

pick here and be well