Top

ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders

Published in:

01-12-2019 | Original Article

The interplay of delay aversion, timing skills, and impulsivity in children experiencing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms

Authors: Friederike Blume, Jan Kuehnhausen, Tilman Reinelt, Andrea Wirth, Wolfgang A. Rauch, Christina Schwenck, Caterina Gawrilow

Published in: ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders | Issue 4/2019

Abstract

Impulsive behaviours occurring as a central deficit in connection with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are associated with social and academic impairment in children. Whereas impulsivity was shown to be related to both delay aversion and deficient timing skills, the mutual relation between the latter two has hardly been investigated. The present study therefore examined the interplay of delay aversion, timing skills, and impulsivity in a sample of eighty-eight children aged between seven and fourteen, twenty-one of them diagnosed with ADHD. Children participated in a delay aversion and a tapping task, while parents reported about their impulsiveness. The results showed that both delay aversion and deficient timing skills were related to impulsivity. Contrasting prior assumptions, delay aversion and timing skills were also shown to be related, even when controlling for impulsivity. Implications for interventions aiming to reduce children’s impulsivity as well as methodological considerations regarding whether to view ADHD as a category or a continuum are discussed.

Available only for authorised users

To measure delay aversion, participants were instructed to indicate answers to simple math tasks with a button press. The computer accepted the answer with varying delay. During the delay, the number of button presses and their mean duration was recorded. An index calculated as the product of the number of button presses and their duration indicated delay aversion.

Antrop I, Stock P, Verté S, Wiersema JR, Baeyens D, Roeyers H (2006) ADHD and delay aversion: the influence of non-temporal stimulation on choice for delayed rewards. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47(11):1152–1158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01619.x CrossRefPubMed

APA (2000) DSM-IV-TR: diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, text revision. (American Psychiatric Association, Ed.). American Psychiatric Association, Washington

APA (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) (Fifth Vers). American Psychiatric Association Publishing, Arlington

Barkley RA (2002) Major life activity and health outcomes associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 63(Suppl12):10–15PubMed

Barkley RA (2006) Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a handbook for diagnosis and treatment, 3rd edn. Guildford Press, New York

Biederman J, Faraone SV, Milberger S, Al E (1996) A prospective 4-year follow-up study of attention-deficit hyperactivity and related disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry 53(5):437–446. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830050073012 CrossRefPubMed

Biederman J, Mick E, Faraone SV (2000) Age-dependent decline of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: impact of remission definition and symptom type. Am J Psychiatry 157(5):816–818. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.157.5.816 CrossRefPubMed

Bitsakou P, Antrop I, Wiersema JR, Sonuga-Barke EJS (2006) Probing the limits of delay intolerance: preliminary young adult data from the Delay Frustration Task (DeFT). J Neurosci Methods 151(1):38–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2005.06.031 CrossRefPubMed

Bitsakou P, Psychogiou L, Thompson M, Sonuga-Barke EJS (2009) Delay aversion in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: an empirical investigation of the broader phenotype. Neuropsychologia 47(2):446–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.09.015 CrossRefPubMed

Block RA, Zakay D, Hancock PA (1999) Developmental changes in human duration judgments: a meta-analytic review. Dev Rev 19(1):183–211. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.1998.0475 CrossRef

Castellanos FX, Tannock R (2002) Neuroscience of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: the search for endophenotypes. Nat Rev Neurosci 3(8):617–628. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn896 CrossRefPubMed

Coghill DR, Sonuga-Barke EJS (2012) Annual Research Review: categories versus dimensions in the classification and conceptualisation of child and adolescent mental disorders—implications of recent empirical study. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 53(5):469–489. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02511.x CrossRefPubMed

Coghill DR, Seth S, Matthews K (2014) A comprehensive assessment of memory, delay aversion, timing, inhibition, decision making and variability in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: advancing beyond the three-pathway models. Psychol Med 44(9):1989–2001. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291713002547 CrossRefPubMed

Cortese S, Ferrin M, Brandeis D, Buitelaar J, Daley D, Dittmann RW et al (2015) Cognitive training for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: meta-analysis of clinical and neuropsychological outcomes from randomized controlled trials. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 54(3):164–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2014.12.010 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

DeYoung CG, Rueter AR (2017) Impulsivity as a personality trait. In: Vohs KD, Baumeister RF (eds) Handbook of self regulation: Research, theory, and applications, 3rd edn. Guildford Publications, New York, pp 345–363

Döpfner M, Görtz-Dorten A (2008) Diagnostik-System für Psychische Störungen im Kindes- und Jugendalter nach ICD-10 und DSM-IV, DISYPS-II [Diagnostic system for psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence according to ICD-10 and DSM-IV, DISYPS-II]. Huber, Bern

Douglas VI, Parry PA (1983) Effects of reward on delayed reaction time task performance of hyperactive children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 11(2):313–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00912094 CrossRefPubMed

Downing G (1965) The preparation of teachers for schools in culturally deprived neighborhoods (The Bridge Project). Final Report. Flushing, NY

Drake C, Jones MR, Baruch C (2000) The development of rhythmic attending in auditory sequences: attunement, referent period, focal attending. Cognition 77(3):251–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(00)00106-2 CrossRefPubMed

Fahrenberg J, Myrtek M (1996) Ambulatory assessment: computer-assisted psychological and psychophysiological methods in monitoring and field studies. Hogrefe & Huber, Seattle

Fahrenberg J, Myrtek M, Pawlik K, Perrez M (2007) Ambulatory assessment—monitoring behavior in daily life settings. Eur J Psychol Assess 23(4):206–213. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.23.4.206 CrossRef

Fischer B, Hartnegg K (2004) On the development of low-level auditory discrimination and deficits in dyslexia. Dyslexia 10(2):105–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.268 CrossRefPubMed

Haslam N, Williams B, Prior M, Haslam R, Graetz B, Sawyer M (2006) The latent structure of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: a taxometric analysis. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 40(8):639–647. https://doi.org/10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01863.x CrossRefPubMed

Hays JR, Smith AL (1980) Comparison of WISC-R and culture fair intelligence test scores for three ethnic groups of juvenile delinquents. Psychol Rep 46(3):931–934. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1980.46.3.931 CrossRefPubMed

Huang J, Yang B, Zou X, Jing J, Pen G, McAlonan GM, Chan RCK (2012) Temporal processing impairment in children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Res Dev Disabil 33(2):538–548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2011.10.021 CrossRefPubMed

Huang-Pollock CL, Mikami AY, Pfiffner L, McBurnett K (2009) Can executive functions explain the relationship between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and social adjustment? J Abnorm Child Psychol 37(5):679–691. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-009-9302-8 CrossRefPubMed

Jensen PS, Eaton Hoagwood K, Roper M, Arnold LE, Odbert C, Crowe M et al (2004) The services for children and adolescents–parent interview: development and performance characteristics. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 43(11):1334–1344. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.chi.0000139557.16830.4e CrossRefPubMed

Körner R, Betz T (2012) Die empirische Bestimmung der sozialen Herkunft und des Migrationshintergrunds von Kindern. Das Erhebungsinstrument der standardisierten Elternbefragung. Ergebnisbericht aus dem Projekt EMiL. [The empirical determination of the social origin and the migration background of children. The survey instrument of the standardised parent interview. Result report of the project EMiL]. Frankfurt a. M

Kuntsi J, Oosterlaan J, Stevenson J (2001) Psychological mechanisms in hyperactivity: response inhibition deficit, working memory impairment, delay aversion, or something else? J Child Psychol Psychiatry 42(2):199–210CrossRef

Lampert T, Kroll L, Müters S, Stolzenberg H (2013) Messung des sozioökonomischen Status in der Studie zur Gesundheit Erwachsener in Deutschland (DEGS1) [Assessment of the socioeconomic statis in a study on adult health in Germany]. Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz 56(5):631–636. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-012-1663-4 CrossRefPubMed

LeFever GB, Villers MS, Morrow AL (2002) Parental perceptions of adverse educational outcomes among children diagnosed and treated for ADHD: a call for improved school/provider collaboration. Psychol Schools 39(1):63–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.10000 CrossRef

Levy F, Hay DA, McStephen M, Wood C, Waldman I (1997) Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a category or a continuum? Genetic analysis of a large-scale twin study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 36(6):737–744CrossRef

Marcus DK, Barry TD (2011) Does attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have a dimensional latent structure? A taxometric analysis. J Abnorm Psychol 120(2):427–442. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021405 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Martel MM, Nigg JT, von Eye A (2008) How do trait dimensions map onto ADHD symptom domains? J Abnorm Child Psychol 37(3):337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9255-3 CrossRef

McAuley JD, Jones MR, Holub S, Johnston HM, Miller NS (2006) The time of our lives: life span development of timing and event tracking. J Exp Psychol Gen 135(3):348–367. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.135.3.348 CrossRefPubMed

Monuteaux MC, Faraone SV, Herzig K, Navsaria N, Biederman J (2005) ADHD and dyscalculia: evidence for independent familial transmission. J Learn Disabil 38(1):86–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222194050380010701 CrossRefPubMed

Noreika V, Falter CM, Rubia K (2013) Timing deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): evidence from neurocognitive and neuroimaging studies. Neuropsychologia 51(2):235–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.09.036 CrossRefPubMed

Polderman TJC, Boomsma DI, Bartels M, Verhulst FC, Huizink AC (2010) A systematic review of prospective studies on attention problems and academic achievement. Acta Psychiatr Scand 122(4):271–284. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2010.01568.x CrossRefPubMed

Rubia K, Taylor A, Taylor E, Sergeant JA (1999) Synchronization, anticipation, and consistency in motor timing of children with dimensionally defined attention deficit hyperactivity behaviour. Percept Mot Skills 89(3 suppl):1237–1258. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1999.89.3f.1237 CrossRefPubMed

Rubia K, Noorloos J, Smith A, Gunning B, Sergeant JA (2003) Motor timing deficits in community and clinical boys with hyperactive behavior: the effect of methylphenidate on motor timing. J Abnorm Child Psychol 31(3):301–313. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023233630774 CrossRefPubMed

Rubia K, Smith A, Taylor E (2007) Performance of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on a test battery of impulsiveness. Child Neuropsychol 13(3):276–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/09297040600770761 CrossRefPubMed

Rubia K, Halari R, Christakou A, Taylor E (2009) Impulsiveness as a timing disturbance: neurocognitive abnormalities in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder during temporal processes and normalization with methylphenidate. Philos Trans R Soc B Biol Sci 364(1525):1919–1931CrossRef

Salum GA, Sonuga-Barke E, Sergeant JA, Vandekerckhove J, Gadelha A, Moriyama TS et al (2014) Mechanisms underpinning inattention and hyperactivity: neurocognitive support for ADHD dimensionality. Psychol Med 44(15):3189–3201CrossRef

Shaw P, Gilliam M, Liverpool M, Weddle C, Malek M, Sharp W et al (2011) Cortical development in typically developing children with symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity: support for a dimensional view of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Am J Psychiatry 168(2):143–151. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10030385 CrossRefPubMed

Shih LYL, Kuo W-J, Yeh T-C, Tzeng OJL, Hsieh J-C (2009) Common neural mechanisms for explicit timing in the sub-second range. NeuroReport 20(10). http://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/Fulltext/2009/07010/Common_neural_mechanisms_for_explicit_timing_in.1.aspx CrossRef

Solanto MV, Abikoff H, Sonuga-Barke E, Schachar R, Logan GD, Wigal T et al (2001) The ecological validity of delay aversion and response inhibition as measures of impulsivity in AD/HD: a supplement to the NIMH multimodal treatment study of AD/HD. J Abnorm Child Psychol 29(3):215–228. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010329714819 CrossRefPubMed

Sonuga-Barke EJS (2002) Psychological heterogeneity in AD/HD—a dual pathway model of behaviour and cognition. Behav Brain Res 130(1–2):29–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4328(01)00432-6 CrossRefPubMed

Sonuga-Barke EJS, Saxton T, Hall M (1998) The role of interval underestimation in hyperactive children’s failure to suppress responses over time. Behav Brain Res 94(1):45–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4328(97)00168-X CrossRefPubMed

Sonuga-Barke EJS, Bitsakou P, Thompson M (2010) Beyond the dual pathway model: evidence for the dissociation of timing, inhibitory, and delay-related impairments in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 49(4):345–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2009.12.018 CrossRefPubMed

Stawski RS, MacDonald SWS, Sliwinski MJ (2015) Measurement burst design. In: The encyclopedia of adulthood and aging. Wiley, New York. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118521373.wbeaa313

Teicher MH, Anderson CM, Polcari A, Glod CA, Maas LC, Renshaw PF (2000) Functional deficits in basal ganglia of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder shown with functional magnetic resonance imaging relaxometry. Nat Med 6(4):470CrossRef

Toplak ME, Tannock R (2005a) Tapping and anticipation performance in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Percept Mot Skills 100(3):659–675. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.100.3.659-675 CrossRefPubMed

Toplak ME, Tannock R (2005b) Time perception: modality and duration effects in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). J Abnorm Child Psychol 33(5):639–654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-6743-6 CrossRefPubMed

Tripp G, Alsop B (2001) Sensitivity to reward delay in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). J Child Psychol Psychiatry 42(5):691–698. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-7610.00764 CrossRefPubMed

Trull TJ, Ebner-Priemer U (2013) Ambulatory assessment. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 9(1):151–176. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185510 CrossRefPubMed

Valera EM, Spencer RMC, Zeffiro TA, Makris N, Spencer TJ, Faraone SV et al (2010) Neural substrates of impaired sensorimotor timing in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biol Psychiat 68(4):359–367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.05.012 CrossRefPubMed

Walg M, Oepen J, Prior H (2012) Adjustment of time perception in the range of seconds and milliseconds: the nature of time-processing alterations in children with ADHD. J Atten Disorders 19(9):755–763. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054712454570 CrossRef

Weiß RH, Weiß B (2006) CFT 20-R. Grundintelligenztest Skala 2 - Revision - [CFT 20-R. Basic intelligence scale 2 - Revision-]. Hogrefe Verlag, Göttingen

WHO (1992) ICD-10 classifications of mental and behavioural disorder: clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. World Health Organization, Geneva

Zelaznik HN, Vaughn AJ, Green JT, Smith AL, Hoza B, Linnea K (2012) Motor timing deficits in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Hum Mov Sci 31(1):255–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2011.05.003 CrossRefPubMed

Title: The interplay of delay aversion, timing skills, and impulsivity in children experiencing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms
Authors: Friederike Blume
Jan Kuehnhausen
Tilman Reinelt
Andrea Wirth
Wolfgang A. Rauch
Christina Schwenck
Caterina Gawrilow
Publication date: 01-12-2019
Publisher: Springer Vienna
Published in: ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders / Issue 4/2019
Print ISSN: 1866-6116
Electronic ISSN: 1866-6647
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-019-00298-4

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

The interplay of delay aversion, timing skills, and impulsivity in children experiencing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms

Abstract

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 4/2019

The effects of childhood inattention and anxiety on executive functioning: inhibition, updating, and shifting

Sluggish cognitive tempo: longitudinal stability and validity

Relationships of Internet addiction and Internet gaming disorder symptom severities with probable attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, aggression and negative affect among university students

Comparisons between sluggish cognitive tempo and ADHD-restrictive inattentive presentation phenotypes in a clinical ADHD sample

Is there a prodrom period in patients with social anxiety disorder? A discussion on the hypothesis of social anxiety disorder development secondary to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Utility of a novel simulator paradigm in the assessment of driving ability in individuals with and without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder