Mechanisms of cognitive disinhibition explain individual differences in adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder traits

Background

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults is strongly associated with psychiatric comorbidity and functional impairment. Here, we aimed to use a newly developed online cognitive battery with strong psychometric properties for measuring individual differences in three cognitive mechanisms proposed to underlie ADHD traits in adults: 1) attentional control – the ability to mobilize cognitive resources to stop a prepotent motor response; 2) information sampling/gathering – adequate sampling of information in a stimulus detection task prior to making a decision; and 3) shifting - the ability to adapt behavior in response to positive and negative contingencies.

Methods

This cross-sectional and correlational study recruited 650 adults (330 males) aged 18–69 years (M = 33.06; MD = 31.00; SD = 10.50), with previously diagnosed ADHD (n = 329) and those from the general community without a history of ADHD (n = 321). Self-report measures of ADHD traits (i.e., inattention/disorganization, impulsivity, hyperactivity) and the cognitive battery were completed online.

Results

Latent class analysis, exploratory structural equation modeling and factor mixture modeling revealed self-reported ADHD traits formed a unidimensional and approximately normally distributed phenotype. Bayesian structural equation modeling demonstrated that all three mechanisms measured by the cognitive battery, explained unique, incremental variance in ADHD traits, with a total of 15.9% explained in the ADHD trait factor.

Conclusions

Attentional control and shifting, as well as the less researched cognitive process of information gathering, explain individual difference variance in self-reported ADHD traits with potential to yield genetic and neurobiological insights into adult ADHD.