Inhibitory Dimensions and Delay of Gratification: A Comparative Study on Individuals with Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Children

Abstract

While previous research on inhibition in people with Down syndrome (DS) reported contradictory results, with no explicit theoretical model, on the other hand, a more homogeneous impaired profile on the delay of gratification skills emerged. The main goal of the present study was to investigate response inhibition, interference suppression, and delay of gratification in 51 individuals with DS matched for a measure of mental age (MA) with 71 typically developing (TD) children. Moreover, we cross-sectionally explored the strengths and weaknesses of these components in children and adolescents vs. adults with DS with the same MA. A battery of laboratory tasks tapping on inhibitory sub-components and delay of gratification was administrated. Results indicated that individuals with DS showed an overall worse performance compared to TD children on response inhibition and delay of gratification, while no differences emerged between the two samples on the interference suppression. Additionally, our results suggested that older individuals with DS outperformed the younger ones both in response inhibition and in the delay of gratification, whereas the interference suppression still remains impaired in adulthood. This study highlights the importance of evaluating inhibitory sub-components considering both MA and chronological age in order to promote more effective and evidence-based training for this population.

Screen Use and Its Association with ADHD Symptoms among Children: A Systematic Review

“…Individuals who exhibit ADHD symptoms often have trouble with impulse control and delay gratification as they have trouble needing to wait to feel the rewards from long term efforts [25] . Thus, when individuals with ADHD are exposed to immediate entertainment and satisfaction from screen usage, individuals with ADHD will get used to it and as a result reduce their ability to delay gratification, increase screen usage and inhibit impulsive behaviors [9] . The two theories that were proposed above will be used as the theoretical guide and framework throughout this research.…”