Lack of Association of Handedness With Inattention and Hyperactivity Symptoms in ADHD

Objective: Findings about the association of left-handedness and ADHD are inconsistent. While abnormal brain laterality is reported in children with ADHD, it is unclear if hand preference is associated with ADHD, severity symptoms, age, gender, comorbid psychiatric problems, or parental characteristics. Method: Subjects were 520 boys and girls with a mean age of 9.04 (2.3) years. Only four children were with mixed-handedness. ADHD was diagnosed according to clinical assessment using accepted diagnostic criteria. In addition to the demographic characteristics and hand-use preference, inattention severity, hyperactivity severity, oppositional behavior symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and developmental coordination problems were assessed. Results: A total of 87.4% were right handed. A total of 12.6% were left handed. Left-or right-hand preference was not associated with age, gender, inattentiveness score, hyperactivity-impulsivity score, comorbid psychiatric problems, developmental coordination problems score, or parental characteristics. Conclusion: Left handedness is not associated with higher parent-reported inattentiveness or hyperactivity. Hand-use preference is not gender related in ADHD.