Hasan Fiza, Shah Harshil P, Kam Julia W Y, Murias Kara R
Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Child Neuropsychol. 2025 Jul;31(5):791-812. doi: 10.1080/09297049.2024.2435545. Epub 2024 Dec 6.
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders in children. According to developmental literature findings, there is a link between executive function (EF) and ADHD. Although EF deficits vary across ADHD presentations in children, working memory capacity is commonly associated with attention impairments. Notably, deficits in working memory capacity are also observed in frequent mind wandering reports for typically developing children. Mind wandering is shifting attention away from a current task to an unrelated thought. To explore the relationship between EF and mind wandering in children with ADHD ( = 47) and further compare our current sample to a typically developing (control) group from a previous study ( = 47), all participants completed three EF-related tasks. They concurrently reported if they were on task or mind wandering. Our results indicate better short-term memory capacity predicted lower mind wandering frequency in children who reported high levels of ADHD symptoms. Similar trends were observed for working memory capacity and ADHD symptomatology. Children with ADHD also reported more overall and unintentional mind wandering on questionnaires compared to children without ADHD. However, the relationship between EF and mind wandering did not differ between these groups. The current study suggests memory-related cognitive abilities may inform our understanding and management of mind wandering in children, driving the development of interventions targeting attention regulation.
注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）是儿童中最常见的神经发育障碍之一。根据发育文献的研究结果，执行功能（EF）与ADHD之间存在联系。尽管儿童ADHD的不同表现形式中执行功能缺陷有所不同，但工作记忆容量通常与注意力障碍有关。值得注意的是，在关于发育正常儿童频繁走神的报告中也观察到了工作记忆容量的缺陷。走神是指将注意力从当前任务转移到无关的想法上。为了探究ADHD儿童（n = 47）的执行功能与走神之间的关系，并将我们当前的样本与之前一项研究中的发育正常（对照）组（n = 47）进行进一步比较，所有参与者都完成了三项与执行功能相关的任务。他们同时报告自己是在专注任务还是在走神。我们的结果表明，在报告ADHD症状水平较高的儿童中，更好的短期记忆容量预示着更低的走神频率。工作记忆容量和ADHD症状学也观察到了类似的趋势。与无ADHD的儿童相比，ADHD儿童在问卷中报告的总体和无意走神情况也更多。然而，这些组之间执行功能与走神之间的关系并无差异。当前的研究表明，与记忆相关的认知能力可能有助于我们理解和管理儿童的走神现象，推动针对注意力调节的干预措施的发展。
