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Introduction and objective: Recent studies suggest that only around 30–50% of children and adolescents with ADHD have an executive function deficit (EFD). If taken at face value, these findings imply that in half of ADHD cases the disorder is mediated by something other than EFD. The present study investigates behavioural, cognitive, and motivational aspects of functioning in school-age children with ADHD with and without an executive function deficit (EFD). Methods: Children with ADHD-EFD (n = 22) and children with ADHD + EFD (n = 26) were compared on aspects of ADHD behaviour, general cognitive ability, intra-individual response variability, affective decision-making, and delay aversion. Results: Children with ADHD-EFD and children with ADHD + EFD were comparable in terms of ADHD symptomatology and affective decision-making. However, children with ADHD + EFD had significantly lower IQ and more intra-individual response variability than no EFD counterparts. Children with ADHD alone appeared more delay averse on the C-DT task than children with ADHD + EFD. Conclusions: Some children with ADHD were primarily characterised by problems with executive functions and variability others by problems with delay aversion supporting multi-pathway models of ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]