Frustration Modulates Attentional Control and Affective Processing in Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity...

Emotion dysregulation is a core feature of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet the mechanisms by which affective contexts modulate attentional control remain incompletely understood.

We investigated how reward and frustration influence behavioral performance and event-related potentials (ERPs) in adults with ADHD using the Affective Posner Task (APT). Fifty-five adults (25 ADHD, 30 typically developing [TD], aged 20-40 years) completed Baseline, Reward, and Frustration APT conditions while a 32-channel EEG was recorded. Stimulus-locked parietal P3 (220-380 ms, Fz, FCz, and Pz) indexed attentional allocation, whereas feedback-locked Feedback-Related Negativity (FRN; 300-400 ms, Fz/FCz) and Late Positive Potential (LPP; 400-750 ms, Cz/CPz) reflected evaluative and sustained affective-motivational processing.

Behaviorally, a significant Group × Condition interaction showed that ADHD participants made more errors than controls only under frustration, despite both groups responding fastest in this condition. ERPs revealed larger P3 amplitudes during Frustration than during Baseline or Reward conditions. However, an Electrode × Group × Trial-type interaction indicated reduced P3 in ADHD on incongruent trials at Pz, consistent with impaired attentional allocation under heightened control demands. In feedback processing, FRN did not show a significant group difference; however, the deceptive loss was more negative than the truthful gain on frustration. Critically, only adults with ADHD showed increased (more positive) LPP amplitudes for both truthful gains and deceptive losses during Frustration relative to the Reward condition, suggesting prolonged affective-motivational engagement; this pattern was absent in TD controls.

Together, these findings indicate that frustration disproportionately disrupts accuracy and elicits distinct neural signatures in adults with ADHD.