ADHD and Interfering Thoughts in High and Low Conflict Conditions

Abstract

Background: Individuals with an ADHD diagnosis have increased levels of interfering thoughts, especially in the form of mind wandering. This was mostly investigated in sustained attention tasks; hence it is unclear whether the findings are only due to their difficulties in those types of tasks. Moreover, it is unclear how the amount of control invested in the task will affect those differences between control and ADHD groups. Method: ADHD and matched control groups performed the Stroop task under high and low conflict conditions while measuring their interfering thoughts level. Results: Individuals with ADHD have more interfering thoughts compared to a control group even when they are able to change their control level according to the task conflict. Conclusion: Interfering thoughts are an independent predictor of ADHD impairments, observed regardless of the degree of control invested in the task.