The Attention Network Characteristics of Adults with High Adhd Traits: Low Stability, Boost Accuracy by Sacrificing Response Time

Abstract

Adults with high ADHD traits (H-ADHD) face challenges in academics, social interactions, and careers, yet their attention characteristics remains unclear. Using Attention Network Test (ANT), we examine attentional characteristics (including specific attentional qualities and overall attentional performance) of H-ADHD and explore how their specific attentional qualities impact overall attentional performance. We find H-ADHD primarily manifests lower alerting network, higher intra-individual coefficient of variation (ICV) and poorer balanced integration score (BIS). Furthermore, the BIS deficiency in high attention deficit traits group (H-ADHD-I) specifically manifests as "high accuracy - slow reaction time", reflecting their response pattern as the reaction time compensated accuracy. Additionally, compared to alerting network, attentional variability (ICV) has a greater role in mediating the impact of ADHD symptoms on overall attentional performance (BIS). Taken together, H-ADHD mainly exhibit deficits in sustained attention (alerting network), attentional stability (ICV), and overall attentional performance. ADHD symptoms worsen overall attentional performance due to increased attentional variability. The study emphasizes the sensitivity of alerting network, ICV, and BIS indicators, and highlights the significance of attentional variability, suggesting their potential clinical value in the future.

Note:
Funding declaration: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [32271123,31971026], Key Projects for Technological Innovation and Application Development in Chongqing [CSTB2022TIAD-KPX0150], the National Key Research and Development Program of China [2022YFC2705201], the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [SWU2009104] and Innovation Research 2035 Pilot Plan of Southwest University [SWUPilotPlan006].

Conflict of Interests: The co-authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval: This research was approved by the Ethical Committee for Scientific Research at Southwest University, and all procedures involved were in accordance with the sixth revision of the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants gave written informed consent in our experiment.

Keywords: High ADHD traits, Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS), Attention Network Test (ANT), Intra-individual Coefficient of Variation (ICV), Balanced Integration Score (BIS)