Comparison of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder versus Asperger’s disorder using the WAIS-R

Objective: The present study compared results on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) among adult patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and those with Asperger’s disorder (AD). Method: WAIS-R results were compared between 16 adults with AD/HD (8 men and 8 women; mean age, 33.81 years; mean full-scale IQ, 101.5) and 15 adults with AD (12 men and 3 women; mean age, 30.93 years; mean full-scale IQ, 104.6). Results: Verbal IQ was significantly higher than performance IQ in the AD group. Among various subtests, scores were the highest for similarities in the AD/HD group and for block design in the AD group. Picture completion test scores were the lowest scores obtained in both groups. A comparison of subtest scores between the AD/HD and AD groups showed scores for information to be significantly higher in the AD group than in the AD/HD group. Conclusions: Our results suggest that there are no differences in verbal IQ, performance IQ, and full-scale IQ scores (except for scores on the information subtest) among adult patients with AD/HD compared with adult patients with AD.