A quantitative analysis of fidgeting in ADHD and its relation to performance and sustained attention on a cognitive task

Summary & key facts

Researchers studied about 70 adults with ADHD, ages 18 to 50, to measure tiny body movements called fidgeting while people did a short attention test called the Flanker. They put motion trackers on the wrist and ankle and created clear ways to measure fidgeting. They found that people fidgeted more on trials where they answered correctly, and that people with steadier reaction times tended to fidget more later in the task. The team says this pattern suggests fidgeting might help some adults with ADHD keep paying attention, but they also note other explanations are possible and more research is needed.

Key facts:

• About 70 adults with ADHD, aged 18–50, wore motion trackers on a wrist and an ankle while doing a lab attention test called the Flanker.
• The researchers defined new, specific measures of fidgeting so movement could be compared across people and studies.
• Fidgeting was higher during trials where participants gave correct answers, not just during errors.
• As the task went on, fidgeting changed even though the overall percent of correct answers did not change, which suggests fidgeting relates to sustaining attention over time.
• Participants who had more consistent reaction times (less variability) showed more fidgeting in the later part of the task.
• The new fidgeting measures were linked to standard ADHD symptom ratings, which supports that the measures relate to ADHD traits.
• The authors say fidgeting may help sustain attention in adults with ADHD, but they stop short of claiming fidgeting definitely causes better attention and note other explanations and limits to generalizing from a single lab session.

Abstract

Our study suggests that fidgeting may aid in sustained attention during the attention-demanding, cognitive control processes for adults with ADHD, with more fidgeting observed during correct trials and among participants with lower reaction time variability. Furthermore, the newly defined fidget variables were validated through a significant correlation with ADHD rating scales. By sharing our implementation of fidget variables, we hope to standardize and encourage further quantitative research into the role of fidgeting in ADHD.

Topics

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Cognitive Abilities and Testing Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Psychiatry and Mental health

Tags

Cognition Cognitive psychology Computer science Data mining Economics Management Psychiatry Psychology Relation (database) Task (project management)

Conditions & symptoms

ADHD Difficulty focusing