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Controlled Clinical Trial
. 2022 Sep;50(9):1139-1149.
doi: 10.1007/s10802-022-00912-6. Epub 2022 Mar 5.

Mind-Wandering and Childhood ADHD: Experimental Manipulations across Laboratory and Naturalistic Settings

Brittany M Merrill  1   2 , Joseph S Raiker  3   4 , Aaron T Mattfeld  3   4 , Fiona L Macphee  3   4 , Marcela C Ramos  3   4 , Xin Zhao  3   4 , Amy R Altszuler  3   4 , Jonathan W Schooler  5 , Stefany Coxe  3   4 , Elizabeth M Gnagy  3 , Andrew R Greiner  3 , Erika K Coles  3   4 , William E Pelham Jr  3   4
Affiliations
Controlled Clinical Trial

Mind-Wandering and Childhood ADHD: Experimental Manipulations across Laboratory and Naturalistic Settings

Brittany M Merrill et al. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

The conceptual overlap between mind-wandering and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related impairments is considerable, yet little experimental research examining this overlap among children is available. The current study aims to experimentally manipulate mind-wandering among children with and without ADHD and examine effects on task performance. Participants were 59 children with ADHD and 55 age-matched controls. Participants completed a novel mind-wandering sustained attention to response task (SART) that included non-self-referential and self-referential stimuli to experimentally increase self-referential mind-wandering, reflected by increases in reaction time variability (RTV) following self-referential stimuli. The ADHD group participated in a classroom study with analogue conditions aimed at encouraging self-referential future-oriented thinking (free play/movie before and after class work) compared to a control condition (newscast) and a cross-over methylphenidate trial. The significant interaction between ADHD status and self-referential stimuli on SART performance indicated that self-referential stimuli led to greater RTV among children with ADHD (within-subject d = 1.29) but not among controls. Methylphenidate significantly reduced RTV among youth with ADHD across self-referential (d = 1.07) and non-self-referential conditions (d = 0.72). In the ADHD classroom study, the significant interaction between mind-wandering condition and methylphenidate indicated that methylphenidate led to higher work completion (ds > 5.00), and the free-play mind-wandering condition had more consistent detrimental effects on productivity (ds ≥ 1.25) than the movie mind-wandering condition. This study is the first to manipulate mind-wandering and assess effects among children with ADHD using a behavioral task. Results provide evidence that children with ADHD are uniquely susceptible to mind-wandering interference.

Keywords: Attention; Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; Mind-wandering; Psychostimulants.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest The authors have declared that they have no competing or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Effect of block type and ADHD status on reaction time variability. NR = non-self-referential, SR = self-referential. For between-group analyses of reaction time variability (RTV), the control group was compared to the ADHD group when receiving placebo. The interaction between block type and ADHD status on reaction time variability (RTV) was significant, p < .03. In the control group, block type did not significantly impact RTV, p = .17. In the ADHD group when receiving placebo, RTV was significantly greater in the SR block compared to the NR block, p < .05
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