Decision-Making Deficits in Adolescent Boys with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): an Experimental Assessment of Associated Mechanisms.

Decision-Making Deficits in Adolescent Boys with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): an Experimental Assessment of Associated Mechanisms. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2019 Dec 28;: Authors: Dekkers TJ, Huizenga HM, Popma A, Bexkens A, Zadelaar JN, Jansen BRJ Abstract Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) demonstrate increased levels of real-life risk-taking behavior like substance abuse and reckless behavior in traffic, which potentially originates in decision-making deficits. Using experimental gambling tasks, the current study investigated three potential underlying mechanisms: (1) risky vs. suboptimal decision making, (2) the complexity of decision-making strategies and (3) the influence of feedback. Participants were 181 male adolescents (81 ADHD, 100 Typically Developing (TD); Mage = 15.1 years). First, we addressed a common confound in many gambling tasks by disentangling risk seeking from suboptimal decision making, and found that ADHD-related decision-making deficits do not originate in increased risk seeking but in suboptimal decision making. Second, we assessed decision-making strategies with a Bayesian latent mixture analysis and found that ADHD-related decision-making deficits are characterized by the use of less complex strategies. That is, adolescent boys with ADHD, relative to TD adolescent boys, less often adopted strategies in which all characteristics relevant to m...
Source: Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: J Abnorm Child Psychol Source Type: research