Verbal Memory Interference in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Review

Interference control is used to overcome conflict among competing memory representations and may contribute to memory difficulties in ADHD. This meta-analytic review examined memory interference to evaluate susceptibility to proactive, retroactive, and memory control interference among those with ADHD.

Twenty studies (1987–2019) examining verbal memory interference in ADHD met inclusion criteria (age: 8–36 years). Proactive and retroactive interference indices were extracted from list-learning tasks, and memory control indices were extracted from experimental paradigms (e.g., directed-forgetting).

Children with ADHD were less affected by proactive interference (g=−0.53, 95% CI [−0.75, −0.31]), whereas no significant differences were found in adults (g=0.13, 95% CI [−0.02, 0.28]). Adults and children with ADHD exhibited more retroactive interference (g=0.17, 95% CI [0.05, 0.29]) and performed worse on memory control tasks (g=0.35, 95% CI [0.08, 0.62]) relative to controls.

Differences in verbal memory interference control in ADHD were observed but effects were different depending upon interference type and participant age.