An examination of shared variance in self-report and objective measures of attention in the incarcerated adult population

Multimodal Virtual Reality-Based Assessment of Adult ADHD: A Feasibility Study in Healthy Subjects

Neuropsychological assessments are often surprisingly inaccurate in mapping clinically-reported attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, presumably due to their low ecological validity. Virtual reality (VR) might offer a potential solution for this problem, given its capability to generate standardized and yet highly realistic virtual environments. As the first adaptation of existing virtual classroom scenarios to an adult population, we developed a Virtual Seminar Room (VSR) for multimodal characterization of ADHD symptoms. To test its feasibility, N = 35 healthy participants were immersed into the VSR via a head-mounted display and carried out a VR-embedded continuous performance task (CPT) under varying levels of distractions in two experimental blocks (24 min each). CPT performance, electroencephalography (EEG) measures, and head movements (actigraphy) were simultaneously recorded and analyzed offline. Although CPT performance remained constant throughout the task, head movements increased significantly from Block 1 to Block 2. In addition, EEG theta (4-7 Hz) and beta (13-30 Hz) power was higher during Block 1 than Block 2, and during distractor-present than distractor-absent phases. Moreover, P300 amplitudes were higher during Block 1 than Block 2, and P300 latencies were prolonged in distractor-absent compared with distractor-present phases. Although the paradigm awaits further improvements, this study confirms the general feasibility of the VSR and provides a first step toward a multimodal, ecologically valid, and reliable VR-based adult ADHD assessment.

Childhood ADHD symptoms are associated with lifetime and current illicit substance-use disorders and in-site health risk behaviors in a representative sample of Latino prison inmates

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore retrospective childhood ADHD symptomatology, psychiatric comorbidity, rates of substance-use disorders (SUD), as well as their association with high-risk health behaviors in prison and adverse health outcomes.

METHOD

A randomly selected representative sample of inmates in the Puerto Rico correctional system (N = 1,179) was assessed with the Spanish-language Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS); the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) modules for lifetime/current major depression disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and SUD; the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS; posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]); and self-reports of in-site high-risk behaviors.

RESULTS

Wald χ(2) tests revealed significant associations of ADHD with MDD and PTSD, as well as increased risk for overdosing and intravenous drug use in prison. A logistic regression model adjusted for mood and anxiety comorbidity predicted lifetime SUD diagnosis (odds ratio = 2.38; 95% confidence interval = [1.15, 4.94]).

CONCLUSION

Our results provide further evidence on the association of drug dependence and ADHD symptoms, and their overrepresentation among prison inmates.

How Much Do We Know About Our Own Cognitive Control?

The paper investigates whether self-report and performance measures of executive control yield comparable results. We report an empirical study in which the answers to a self-report questionnaire on executive control were compared with the results of three computerized tests of cognitive control. Both the questionnaire and the computerized tests covered three dimensions of executive control, namely, prepotent response inhibition, task switching, and goal monitoring (goal maintenance). The results are rather surprising and negative: The relationships between performance and self-report measures of executive control were either weak or insignificant. Moreover, they tended to disappear when age of participants was controlled. We conclude that people are basically unable to assess the strength of their own cognitive control. However, the two types of assessment tool might analyze different aspects of individual differences in executive control and should therefore be considered in research and practical applications.