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Cited by 22Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesAttachment and Relationship DynamicsFamily Dynamics and Relationships

Attention Deficits and Divorce

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Bouchard, Geneviève, Saint-Aubin, Jean·2014·The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
DOI 10.1177/070674371405900904PMC PMC4168810
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Abstract

Objective: Building on previous work on the role of attention deficits associated with the regulation of executive control in psychiatric disorders, we examine whether these attention deficits are related to an interpersonal disturbance, the experience of divorce. Method: Attentional capacities of 95 randomly selected couples from the general population were measured with a well-established task, the Attentional Network Task, which assesses the efficiency of 3 attention networks (that is, alerting, orienting, and executive control). Among the 190 participants, 32 had experienced a divorce in the past. ANCOVAs were used to compare divorced people in marital or cohabiting unions with people in first unions in their performance on this purely cognitive task. Results: Our findings indicate that divorced people who are currently living in a cohabiting relationship show significantly lower executive control than other adults living as couples, after controlling for sex, age, income, and education. This subgroup of divorced people not only exhibit greater difficulty in responding to some stimuli while ignoring irrelevant ones but also manifest cognitive deficits in conflict resolution. Conclusions: This study highlights the links between attention and the long-term maintenance of intimate relationships. Our results may have important implications for the identification of people at risk for divorce.

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  • This finding is consistent with previous research showing that adult attention deficits are elevated among people who are divorced.

    “This finding is consistent with previous research showing that adult attention deficits are elevated among people who are divorced”

    From The descriptive epidemiology of DSM-IV adult ADHD in the world health organization world mental health surveys (2017) · cites this paper as Bouchard and Saint-Aubin 2014

    The Abstract and Discussion report poorer executive control among adults who had divorced and were currently cohabiting. The Discussion specifies that these deficits were observed only in that subgroup, not among divorced people who had remarried, so the claim is too broad. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Adult ADHD is associated with substantial impairments in productive role functioning, social role functioning, and most strongly in cognitive functioning.

    “Our results regarding role impairments are also consistent with much previous research in showing that adult ADHD is associated with substantial impairments in productive role functioning (Kupper et al. 2012), social role functioning (Bouchard and Saint-Aubin 2014), and most strongly in cognitive functioning (Ivanchak et al. 2012)”

    From The descriptive epidemiology of DSM-IV adult ADHD in the world health organization world mental health surveys (2017) · cites this paper as Bouchard and Saint-Aubin 2014

    The Abstract and Conclusion link attention deficits with divorce, a social or relational consequence. But the study sampled couples from the general population and did not establish that its participants had adult ADHD, so it does not directly support the claim about social role impairment in adults with ADHD. The productive and cognitive functioning clauses have separate citations and are not attributed to this paper. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Authors
Bouchard, G., & Saint-Aubin, J.
Affiliations
  • Université de Moncton (CA)
  • Professor, School of Psychology, Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick
Corresponding author
Bouchard, Geneviève
ORCID
Bouchard, Geneviève
Venue
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2014-09
Volume
59
Issue
9
Pages
480-486
ISSN
  • 0706-7437 (ISSN-L)
  • 1497-0015
DOI
10.1177/070674371405900904
PMC
PMC4168810
OpenAlex
W323915348
Cited by
22
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
FWCI
1.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
Keywords
attention deficits, divorce, executive function, attentional networks, cohabitation, marital relationships, conflict resolution, interpersonal relationships
MeSH terms
Adult, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Canada, Divorce, Family Characteristics, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Marriage, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Orientation, Problem Solving, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Sampling Studies, Socioeconomic Factors, Mental Competency, Executive Function

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