Cited by 75Attention Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderDevelopmental and Educational NeuropsychologyChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

An Examination of Relations Among Working Memory, ADHD Symptoms, and Emotion Regulation

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Groves, Nicole B., Kofler, Michael J., Wells, Erica L., Day, Taylor N., Chan, Elizabeth S. M.·2020·Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Abstract

Emotion regulation difficulties are present in many, if not most, children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and confer risk for a host of adverse outcomes. Little is known, however, regarding the neurocognitive and behavioral mechanisms that underlie these difficulties. A well-characterized, clinically evaluated sample of 145 children ages 8-13 years (M = 10.33, SD = 1.47; 55 girls; 69% White/non-Hispanic) were administered multiple, counterbalanced working memory tests and assessed for emotion dysregulation and ADHD symptoms via multiple-informant reports. Bias-corrected, bootstrapped conditional effects modeling indicated that underdeveloped working memory exerted significant direct effects on emotion regulation in all tested models as well as indirect effects on emotion regulation via parent-reported hyperactive/impulsive symptoms (95% CIs excluded zero). Interestingly, hyperactive/impulsive symptoms also predicted emotion dysregulation when controlling for the influence of working memory. Inattention failed to predict emotion regulation difficulties in all tested models (all 95% CIs included zero). This pattern of results replicated across parent and teacher models and were robust to control for mono-informant bias, age, and gender. These findings suggest that emotion dysregulation in ADHD reflects, in part, both a direct outcome of underdeveloped working memory and an affective outcome of hyperactive and/or impulsive symptomatology, both attributable to and independent of the role of underlying working memory deficits.

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  • The modest EF test/rating association is unlikely to be due to EF ratings covering a wider range of executive functions than the tests, given component scores and evidence that the tests capture variance related to a wide range of behaviors.

    “However, this conclusion seems unlikely given our use of component scores to capture domain-general executive functioning abilities, combined with replicated evidence that these tests are capturing reliable variance associated with the wide range of behaviors that the EF ratings are intended to capture”

    From Executive functioning rating scales: Ecologically valid or construct invalid? (2020) · cites this paper as Groves et al., 2020

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Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Bunford N, Brandt NE, Golden C, Dykstra JB, Suhr JA, Owens JS (2014). ADHD symptoms mediate the association between deficits in executive functioning and social impairment in children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43, 133– 147. 24943056
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Authors
Groves, N. B., Kofler, M. J., Wells, E. L., Day, T. N., & Chan, E. S. M.
Affiliations
Florida State University (US)
Corresponding author
Kofler, Michael J.
Venue
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
Published
2020-01-03
Volume
48
Issue
4
Pages
525-537
ISSN
  • 0091-0627 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-2835
OpenAlex
W2996877477
Cited by
75
References
115
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 5
FWCI
6.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH115048)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, working memory, emotion regulation, emotional dysregulation, hyperactive-impulsive symptoms, inattention, children, parent and teacher ratings
MeSH terms
Emotional Regulation, Adolescent, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Neuropsychological Tests, Parents, Executive Function

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