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

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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.

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Data Availability

Data are available upon reasonable request of the corresponding author.

Code Availability

Data were analyzed in SAS 9.4 using PROC GLIMMIX.

Notes

  1. Three children in the ADHD group completed an incorrect version of the MW SART in error and one child did not submit SR photos required for the task. Of the 59 participants with ADHD, 55 completed the MW SART, and therefore 55 children without ADHD were recruited for the control group.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH099030) and the Center for Children and Families and University Graduate School at Florida International University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Brittany M. Merrill, Joseph S. Raiker, Aaron T. Mattfeld, Fiona L. Macphee, Marcela C. Ramos, Xin Zhao, Amy R. Altszuler, Stefany Coxe, Elizabeth M. Gnagy, Andrew R. Greiner, Erika K. Coles & William E. Pelham Jr.

  2. Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Brittany M. Merrill, Joseph S. Raiker, Aaron T. Mattfeld, Fiona L. Macphee, Marcela C. Ramos, Xin Zhao, Amy R. Altszuler, Stefany Coxe, Erika K. Coles & William E. Pelham Jr.

  3. Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Jonathan W. Schooler

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  1. Brittany M. Merrill
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  2. Joseph S. Raiker
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Merrill, B.M., Raiker, J.S., Mattfeld, A.T. et al. Mind-Wandering and Childhood ADHD: Experimental Manipulations across Laboratory and Naturalistic Settings. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 50, 1139–1149 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-022-00912-6

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