Response-Time Variability Is Related to Parent Ratings of Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Executive Function
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Individuals with ADHD are often characterized as inconsistent across many contexts. ADHD is also associated with deficits in executive function. We examined the relationships between response time (RT) variability on five brief computer tasks to parents' ratings of ADHD-related features and executive function in a group of children with a broad range of ADHD symptoms from none to full diagnosis. METHODS: We tested 98 children (mean age 9.9 ± 1.4 years; 66 boys) from community clinics on short tasks of executive control (TEC) and the Eriksen Flanker task, while a parent completed the Conners' Parent Rating Scale and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function. RESULTS: Variability for two of the TEC tasks explained significant proportions of the variance of all five ADHD-related Conners' subscales and several executive function subscales. By contrast, variability on the flanker task or mean RTs for any task were not associated with any rating scale. CONCLUSION: The significant dimensional relationships observed between variability measures and parent ratings supported the utility of RT variability as an objective measure in ADHD and aspects of executive functioning that is superior to RT means or accuracy measures.
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Reaction time variability correlates with measures of behavioral inattention, and in a minority of studies also with hyperactivity-impulsivity.
“Where relations between RTV and the ADHD symptom domains have been examined, RTV has correlated with measures of behavioral inattention [48,52,53] but has also been found to correlate with hyperactivityimpulsivity in a minority of studies”
From Reaction Time Variability in ADHD: A Review (2012) · cites this paper as [54]
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- Authors
- Gómez-Guerrero, L., Martín, C. D., Mairena, M. A., Di Martino, A., Wang, J., Mendelsohn, A. L., Dreyer, B. P., Isquith, P. K., Gioia, G., Petkova, E., & Castellanos, F. X.
- Affiliations
- Servicio de Psiquiatría, Hospital Provincial de Pontevedra, Santiago de Compostela (La Coruña), Spain
- Complejo Asistencial de Zamora, Zamora, Spain
- New York University, New York, NY
- New York University (US)
- Dartmouth Medical School, Rockville, MD
- Children’s National Medical Center, Rockville, MD
- Corresponding author
- Castellanos, F. Xavier
- Venue
- Journal of Attention Disorders
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-08-04
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 572-582
- ISSN
- 1087-0547 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-1246
- PMC
- PMC3863378
- OpenAlex
- W2167734734
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 2.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Journal of Attention Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- UNICA IRIS Institutional Research Information System (University of Cagliari) (submittedVersion)
- RUNA. Repositorio Institucional del Sergas (Servicio Gallego de Salud (SERGAS)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- George Washington University
- Dartmouth College
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH081218)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, reaction time variability, executive function, inattention, hyperactivity, parent ratings, Conners' Parent Rating Scale, Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, flanker task, task switching, children
- MeSH terms
- Attention, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Female, Humans, Hyperkinesis, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Parents, Pilot Projects, Reaction Time, Executive Function
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