BackHome
Refresh: OffView Personal Schedule
Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Adolescent Sleepiness Moderates the Relationship between Symptoms of ADHD and Mind-Wandering

Wed, April 7, 3:15 to 4:15pm EDT (3:15 to 4:15pm EDT), Virtual

Abstract

Mind-wandering is the unplanned shift from externally- to internally-directed attention. When excessive, mind-wandering predicts performance decrements in educational and occupational settings (e.g., academic failure, accidents). Individual differences in mind-wandering may stem, in part, from impairments in executive functioning. Adults with ADHD exhibit higher levels of mind-wandering than typically-developing individuals (Seli et al., 2015), and demonstrate positive associations between mind-wandering and both symptom severity and degree of impairment (Seli et al., 2011). In addition, poor sleep quality is associated with greater mind-wandering (Carciofo et al., 2014). In pediatric samples, sleep problems are associated with ADHD diagnosis and may also exacerbate existing ADHD symptoms (Chervin, 2005; Gruber et al., 2011). Although separate studies reveal that ADHD symptoms, sleepiness, and mind-wandering are interrelated, relatively few studies consider these variables simultaneously, and particularly within adolescent samples. In the present analyses, we examined the relative contribution of ADHD symptoms and daytime sleepiness to the prediction of adolescent mind-wandering. In addition to assessing main effects, we considered the interaction between ADHD symptoms and sleepiness in predicting mind-wandering.

The sample consisted of 237 mother-adolescent dyads (adolescent M age = 15.7 years; SD age = 1.18; 54.9% female). Data were obtained via self-report questionnaires. Mothers rated adolescent ADHD symptom severity with the ADHD-IV Rating Scale (DuPaul, et al., 1998). Adolescents completed the Sleepiness Subscale of the School Sleep Habits Survey (Wolfson & Carskadon 1998) and the Mind-Wandering Scale (Carriere et al., 2013).

Adolescent ADHD symptoms (M=10.9, SD = 9.74) and sleepiness (M=14.8, SD = 3.69) were correlated with mind-wandering (M = 54.0, SD=10.0; rs = .19 and .18, respectively, ps < .01). However, ADHD symptoms and sleepiness were not significantly correlated (r = -.01, p = .93). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that adolescent ADHD symptoms and sleepiness were significantly related to mind-wandering (R2 = 0.08, F(2, 234) = 8.62, p = .001). Further, there was a significant interaction between ADHD and sleepiness on mind-wandering (R2change=0.03, Fchange(1, 233)=8.01, p = .005). Examination of simple slopes and the interaction’s region of significance revealed that when sleepiness was moderate to high (15.6 or higher), there was no difference in mind-wandering for adolescents with high or low symptoms of ADHD (t(233) = 0.02, p = .98). However, when sleepiness was moderate to low (below 15.6), adolescents with more symptoms of ADHD exhibited higher levels of mind-wandering than adolescents with fewer symptoms of ADHD (t(233) = 4.04, p < .001 ).

Similar to previous literature, both sleepiness and ADHD symptoms were independently related to mind-wandering (Smallwood & Schooler, 2006; Durmer & Dinges, 2005). Interestingly, our results also indicate that when adolescent sleepiness was high, adolescents with low ADHD demonstrated comparable mind-wandering to adolescents with high ADHD. However, within low levels of sleepiness, the influence of ADHD on mind-wandering was more pronounced; adolescents with more symptoms of ADHD had higher levels of mind-wandering than adolescents with fewer symptoms of ADHD. These results suggest that an intervention targeting sleepiness may be useful in reducing mind-wandering for adolescents with fewer symptoms of ADHD.

Authors