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Temporal reward discounting and ADHD: task and symptom specific effects

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Summary

This study investigated a new aspect of the association between ADHD symptoms and delay aversion. Participants were 55 undergraduate Psychology students with varying levels of self-reported ADHD symptoms. Various delay aversion tasks were used, including real and hypothetical temporal discounting tasks previously used in the field of ADHD. ADHD symptoms, specifically hyperactivity/impulsivity, were associated with steep discounting, but only when rewards and delays were real. These data suggest that (1) real temporal discounting tasks are more sensitive to ADHD-related delay aversion than hypothetical ones; (2) delay aversion may be a causal mechanism specifically associated with ADHD-Combined and Hyperactive/Impulsive Types but not Inattentive Type. These findings may help refine behavioral treatment approaches and models of ADHD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    A. Scheres, A. Lee & M. Sumiya

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  1. A. Scheres
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  2. A. Lee
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  3. M. Sumiya
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Correspondence to A. Scheres.

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Correspondence: Anouk Scheres, Psychology Department, University of Arizona, 1503 E, University Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

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Scheres, A., Lee, A. & Sumiya, M. Temporal reward discounting and ADHD: task and symptom specific effects. J Neural Transm 115, 221–226 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-007-0813-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-007-0813-6

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