Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Symptoms, But Not ADHD or Internalizing Symptoms, Are Uniquely Related to Self-Reported Mind-Wandering in Adolescents With ADHD

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the relation between sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms and self-reported mind-wandering in a sample of adolescents with ADHD. Method: Adolescents ( N = 79; aged 13–17 years; 70% male) diagnosed with ADHD completed measures of SCT, ADHD, anxiety, and depression symptoms, in addition to mind-wandering. Parents also provided ratings of adolescents’ ADHD symptoms. Results: All adolescent-reported psychopathology dimensions, including ADHD, internalizing, and SCT, were significantly bivariately correlated with greater mind-wandering. However, in regression analysis that considered psychopathologies simultaneously, SCT was the only dimension uniquely associated with greater mind-wandering. This finding was unchanged when parent-reported ADHD symptoms were included in the model. Conclusion: These findings are the first to show that SCT symptoms are uniquely related with self-reported mind-wandering in adolescents with ADHD and underscore the importance of considering co-occurring SCT symptoms when testing the interrelations between ADHD and mind-wandering. Replication is needed in larger samples and with other measures of mind-wandering.

Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome (Sluggish Cognitive Tempo) and Social Withdrawal: Advancing a Conceptual Model to Guide Future Research

“…In contrast to top-down executive control processes linked to ADHD-IN, greater task-unrelated thoughts have been proposed as an unique attentional feature of CDS (Barkley et al, 2022; Becker & Barkley, 2021). Specifically, CDS is more strongly associated than ADHD-IN symptoms with self-reported mind-wandering and rumination (Becker & Barkley, 2021; Becker et al, 2020; Fredrick & Becker, 2021; Fredrick, Kofler, et al, 2020). In school-aged children with high CDS, difficulties in sustained attention were significantly associated with parent ratings of social withdrawal, controlling for ADHD (Yung et al, 2021).…”

Field of daydreams? Integrating mind wandering in the study of sluggish cognitive tempo and ADHD

“…Until recently, there were no data directly linking mind wandering and SCT. There are now two studies demonstrating SCT to be associated with greater mind wandering (Fredrick & Becker, 2020 ; Fredrick et al., 2020 ). These studies found the association between ADHD inattentive symptoms and mind wandering to be largely eliminated when SCT symptoms were included in the model.…”

Spontaneous thought characteristics are differentially related to heightened negative affect versus blunted positive affect in adolescents: An experience sampling study

“…We spend a substantial proportion (approximately 30%–60%) of our waking hours mind wandering, or thinking about something other than what we are currently doing (Kane et al., 2007 , 2017 ; Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010 ; Webb, Israel et al., 2021 ; see Seli et al., 2018 for the influence of response options on estimates of mind‐wandering). Although the propensity to mind‐wander may be more common among adolescents relative to children or adults (Carriere et al., 2010 ; Giambra, 2000 ; Stawarczyk, 2018 ; but see Stawarczyk et al., 2014 ), studies have only recently investigated the content, correlates and consequences of mind‐wandering in teens (e.g., Figueiredo et al., 2020 ; Fredrick & Becker, 2021 ; Mrazek et al., 2013 ; Vannucci et al., 2020 ; Webb, Israel et al., 2021 ).…”

“…Given that adolescents spend a substantial proportion of their waking hours mind‐wandering (e.g., approximately 60% according to a recent ecological momentary assessment [EMA] study; Webb, Swords et al., 2021 ), research is needed to understand the extent to which these states may contribute to increases in NA. Initial research has been mixed, with some studies indicating that mind‐wandering is linked to worse affect in adolescents (Mrazek et al., 2013 ; Webb, Israel et al., 2021 ), and others failing to support this relationship (Fredrick & Becker, 2021 ). These inconsistencies may be due to prior research not distinguishing between different relevant characteristics of spontaneous thought.…”