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Sensitivity to reward delay in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

G Tripp1, B Alsop

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. gtripp@psy.otago.ac.nz

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines
|July 24, 2001
PubMed

Insights

Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) show a stronger preference for immediate rewards compared to controls. This heightened sensitivity to delayed gratification impacts their decision-making processes.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychiatry

Background:

  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder.
  • Understanding reward processing is crucial for ADHD research.
  • Previous studies suggest altered reward sensitivity in ADHD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare sensitivity to pre-reward delays between children with and without ADHD.
  • To investigate how immediate versus delayed rewards influence behavior in children with ADHD.

Main Methods:

  • A signal-detection task was administered to 36 children with ADHD and 36 controls.
  • Participants responded to stimuli associated with either immediate or delayed rewards.
  • Response bias and discriminability were measured.

Main Results:

  • Children with ADHD exhibited a greater bias towards immediate rewards.
  • Control children showed reduced discriminability and increased response bias after delayed rewards.
  • Both groups responded more slowly following delayed rewards.

Conclusions:

  • Findings support the hypothesis that children with ADHD are more sensitive to pre-reward delays.
  • This heightened sensitivity may underlie impulsivity and decision-making deficits in ADHD.
  • Reward timing significantly affects cognitive performance in children with and without ADHD.

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