title: Sustained attention in adult ADHD: time-on-task effects of various measures of attention.
abstract: Neuropsychological research on adults with ADHD showed deficits in various aspects of attention. However, the majority of studies failed to explore the change of performance over time, so-called time-on-task effects. As a consequence, little is known about sustained attention performance of adults with ADHD. The aim of the present study was therefore to test the hypothesis of sustained attention deficits of adults with ADHD. Twenty-nine adults with ADHD and 30 healthy individuals were assessed on four 20-min tests of sustained attention, measuring alertness, selective attention, divided attention and flexibility. The deterioration of performance over time (time-on-task effects) was compared between patients with ADHD and healthy individuals to conclude on sustained attention performance. Compared to healthy individuals, patients with ADHD showed significant deficits of medium size in selective attention and divided attention. Furthermore, medium sustained attention deficits was observed in measures of alertness, selective attention and divided attention. This study supports the notion of sustained attention deficits of adults with ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tucha
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands. a.b.m.fuermaier@rug.nl.
authors.forename: Anselm B M
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Fuermaier
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Janneke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koerts
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rieka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buggenthin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, SRH Clinic Karlsbad-Langensteinbach, Karlsbad-Langensteinbach, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aschenbrenner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, SRH Clinic Karlsbad-Langensteinbach, Karlsbad-Langensteinbach, Germany.|Section for Experimental Psychopathology, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weisbrod
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thome
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tucha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D057566:Self Report
keywords: Adult ADHD; Attention; Cognition; Neuropsychological assessment; Sustained attention; Time-on-task effects