Project Details
Projekt
Adaptive Dynamics of Cognitive and Behavioral Variability in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Long-Term Effects, Neural Bases, and Susceptibility to Intervention
Subject Area
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Term
from 2015 to 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 283324755
ADHD symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity lead to detrimental long-term effects in everyday life for affected persons and are assumed to arise from executive function deficits. Next to problems of executive function, children with ADHD also have difficulties adapting to changing environmental demands and show high response variability when task demands are stable. However, mechanisms that account for ADHD-typical behavioral variability are still unspecified and it remains unclear how fluctuations in ADHD symptoms and in everyday self-regulatory problems in children are associated on a between- and within-person level. Secondly, it is an open question how within-person variability in ADHD symptoms and self-regulatory abilities relates to long-term cognitive development of children with ADHD. Third, while it is acknowledged that ADHD involves dysfunctions at the level of neural networks, the relationship between brain signal variability and behavioral variability is not sufficiently understood, and it is unclear how brain signal variability is related to the development of ADHD symptoms. Finally, we do so far not know whether self-regulation interventions can positively influence ADHD-related variability at both the behavioral and brain level. Therefore, this project investigates fluctuations in self-regulation abilities in children with ADHD, in combination with important developmental outcome variables measured on different temporal scales: trial-to-trial, day-to-day, and burst-to-burst, thereby focusing on the following research questions: (1.) What is the relationship between fluctuations in self-regulation abilities and ADHD symptoms? (2.) Does variability in brain networks contribute to variability in self-regulation abilities, everyday behavioral difficulties, and ADHD symptoms? (3.) How do short-term fluctuations change over development? (4.) Do short-term fluctuations of brain signals and self-regulation abilities influence long-term development? (5.) How is cognitive, behavioral, ADHD symptom, or brain signal variability influenced by self-regulation interventions? To pursue these research questions, 140 children with and without ADHD symptoms and their parents/teachers will be recruited starting in Grade 5. Applying a measurement burst design, we will conduct six micro-longitudinal bursts over three years with measurements taken on nine consecutive school days. Three assessment bursts will provide data to investigate the association between short-term within-person fluctuations in dependent variables and the relationship between short-term fluctuations and long-term development. In addition, three intervention bursts will be conducted to investigate the effects of self-regulation interventions on behavioral and brain signal variability, as well as on their development.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
