Project AHKi

Attention and hyperactivity in kindergarten children.

The aim of the AHKi project is to find out which early temperamental characteristics and cognitive abilities can be used to identify which children are at risk of developing symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To do this, 300 children aged three in nursery school were asked to complete tasks measuring enthusiasm (e.g. how happy children are when they are allowed to burst soap bubbles) and inhibition (e.g. children are asked to push a cat when they hear it bark and thus inhibit their impulse to push the dog). We ask parents and educators in the nursery to rate the children’s ADHD symptoms. The same children will be asked to do the same tasks again at the age of four, and parents and educators will be asked to rate ADHD symptoms again. We want to use the results to better predict which children are at risk of developing ADHD symptoms, so that we can offer preventive interventions to these children before they develop clinical ADHD.

Selected Publications

• Ulitzka, B., Schmidt, H., Daseking, M., Karbach, J., Gawrilow, C. & Kerner auch Koerner, J. (2023). EF Touch – Testbatterie zur Erfassung der exekutiven Funktionen bei 3- bis 5-Jährigen. Diagnostica. https://doi.org/10.1026/0012-1924/a000314
• Kerner auch Koerner, J., Gawrilow, C., & Daseking, M. (2022). Eine Längsschnittstudie zur Vorhersage von ADHS-Symptomen und Schulleistungen in der 1. Klasse durch exekutive Funktionen im Vorschulalter. Kindheit und Entwicklung, 31 (3), 144–154. https://doi.org/10.1026/0942-5403/a000383
• Kerner auch Koerner, J., Gust, N., & Petermann, F. (2017). Developing ADHD in preschool: Testing the dual pathway model of temperament. Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 7(4), 366–373. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622965.2017.1347509