Quantitative criteria for attention and activity in child psychiatric patients.

The aim was to find empirically justified criteria for attention and activity. Patients with various disorders and controls were observed during psychiatric examinations. Measures of attention increased with age, were lower in patients than controls, were correlated with each other and related to the quality of task performance. Activity measures decreased with age, were higher in patients, were correlated among each other and concerned motility as well as talking initiatives. Criteria from other studies and the DSM-III were critically examined. Inattention was not associated with hyperactivity, except in mentally retarded children. Inattention was common in many diagnostic categories.