Characteristics of intertemporal choice in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Objective:To explore the characteristics of delay discounting and non-systematic response data in intertemporal choice of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD),and to explore the best data processing strategy for delay discounting task.Methods:Totally 108 adults with ADHD meeting the diagnostic cri-teria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorder,Fifth Edition(DSM-5)and 87 gender matched normal controls were enrolled.ADHD symptoms were assessed using the ADHD Symptom Rating Scale,the delay discounting task was used to measure the delay discounting rate,and a model-free algorithm was used to i-dentify non-systematic response data.Results:There was no significant difference in the proportion of non-systemat-ic response data between ADHD group and normal control group(P>0.05).In the data sets using different data screening strategies,the delay discounting rates were higher in the ADHD group than in the normal control group(Ps<0.05).The delay discounting rates were positively correlated with the hyperactive impulse scores(r=0.24,P=0.001),the inattention scores(r=0.20,P<0.01)and the total scores of ADHD symptom Rating Scale(r=0.22,P<0.01).Conclusion:Adults with ADHD prefer to obtain immediate small rewards in intertemporal choice.The immediate preference of intertemporal choice may be mainly related to hyperactive impulsive symp-toms.Exclusion strategy of non-systematic response data may be more applicable to delay discount task research.
intertemporal choiceattention deficit hyperactivity disorderdelay discounting tasknon-sys-tematic response data