Behavioral attention and academic achievement: a comprehensive meta-analysis

Extant literature has found attention and academic achievement to be related throughout development. Surprisingly, there are few comprehensive meta-analytic studies of the size of this effect. Therefore, the present study evaluates the relation between ADHD symptomatology (i.e., ratings of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity) and academic achievement, over 106 studies and 450 effect sizes, with moderators assessing: study design type; symptomatology type; academic domain and subskills; rater type; gender; and age. Included studies had: students from Kindergarten to undergraduate level; an ADHD group or ADHD symptomatology rating measure; an academic achievement measure; and effect size availability. Effect sizes were converted to pooled correlations, <i>r</i>. The pooled correlation for behavioral attention and academic achievement was <i>r</i> = -.25 (95% CI: -0.29, -0.22; <i>p</i> < .001). Meta-regression analyses significantly differed for the moderators of symptomatology type (inattention <i>r</i> = -.30, hyperactivity/impulsivity <i>r</i> = -.13), and rater (parent <i>r</i> = -.19, teacher <i>r</i> = -.34). No significant differences were found for the other moderators. Post-hoc analyses found that higher academic complexity (e.g., combined reading comprehension, written expression, math word problems) was more related to ADHD symptomatology than lower academic complexity (e.g., combined decoding, spelling, math computation), β = -.10, <i>t</i> =-3.21, <i>p</i> < .01, 95% CI [-.17, -.04]. Overall, this meta-analysis quantified and systematized the significant negative relation between behavioral attention and academic achievement using scientifically rigorous methodology. Findings highlight the importance of ratings specifically of inattention, particularly by teachers, for academic achievement.