The importance of parental knowledge in the association between ADHD symptomatology and related domains of impairment

Parents of children with ADHD experience several difficulties while raising their children and report lower levels of knowledge about their children’s life and behaviors. A recent study found that low levels of parental knowledge mediated the association between ADHD symptoms and risk-taking behavior (RTB) in adolescents. The current study aimed to investigate this previous finding further by replicating it, by taking peer influence into account as additional social factor of importance and by extending it and also investigate the role of parental knowledge in the association between ADHD symptoms and homework problems. Three studies were performed: study 1 (N=234) replicated previous work on parental knowledge mediating the association between ADHD symptoms and RTB, study 2 (pre-registered, N=313) added peer influence, and study 3 (pre-registered, N=315) assessed whether parental knowledge mediated the association between ADHD symptoms and homework behavior. Parental knowledge consistently mediated the association between ADHD symptoms on one hand and RTB and homework problems on the other, and also predicted stronger resistance to peer influence. Because parental knowledge was repeatedly linked to ADHD-related problems, it seems promising to include parental knowledge in treatment of ADHD-related problems in adolescents, by improving the parent-child relationship. Future studies should test more directly how improvement of the parent-child relationship can be used to optimize parental knowledge, which in its turn reduces ADHD-related problems

arf3DS4: An Integrated Framework for Localization and Connectivity Analysis of fMRI Data

In standard fMRI analysis all voxels are tested in a massive univariate approach, that is, each voxel is tested independently. This requires stringent corrections for multiple comparisons to control the number of false positive tests (i.e., marking voxels as active while they are actually not). As a result, fMRI analyses may suffer from low power to detect activation, especially in studies with high levels of noise in the data, for example developmental or single-subject studies. Activated region fitting (ARF) yields a solution by modeling fMRI data by multiple Gaussian shaped regions. ARF only requires a small number of parameters and therefore has increased power to detect activation. If required, the estimated regions can be directly used as regions of interest in a functional connectivity analysis. ARF is implemented in the R package arf3DS4. In this paper ARF and its implementation are described and illustrated with an example

How to support peer resistance in adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability? Intervention development and feasibility

Background: Adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability face peer resistance challenges, risking harmful or dangerous situations. Method: We designed a peer resistance group intervention at school for adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability, tested its feasibility (N = 4, Mage = 14.1, MIQ = 78.8), adapted it, and tested it again (N = 6, Mage = 15.0, MIQ = 72.8). Results: Study 1 demonstrated feasibility in recruitment, resources, and potential benefits on the distal outcome risk taking. However, attendance, obtained knowledge, and potential benefits on peer resistance, peer problems, and prosocial behaviour were suboptimal. Consequently, study 2 contained more learning by doing and individual lessons, resulting in higher attendance and greater personalization. While potential benefits on improved peer resistance measures were not observed, risk taking improved. Conclusions: Despite finding no potential benefits on peer resistance, running a peer resistance intervention for adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability at school is considered feasible

A Fast and Reliable Method for Simultaneous Waveform, Amplitude and Latency Estimation of Single-Trial EEG/MEG Data

The amplitude and latency of single-trial EEG/MEG signals may provide valuable information concerning human brain functioning. In this article we propose a new method to reliably estimate single-trial amplitude and latency of EEG/MEG signals. The advantages of the method are fourfold. First, no a-priori specified template function is required. Second, the method allows for multiple signals that may vary independently in amplitude and/or latency. Third, the method is less sensitive to noise as it models data with a parsimonious set of basis functions. Finally, the method is very fast since it is based on an iterative linear least squares algorithm. A simulation study shows that the method yields reliable estimates under different levels of latency variation and signal-to-noise ratioÕs. Furthermore, it shows that the existence of multiple signals can be correctly determined. An application to empirical data from a choice reaction time study indicates that the method describes these data accurately

Is (poly-) substance use associated with impaired inhibitory control? A mega-analysis controlling for confounders.

Many studies have reported that heavy substance use is associated with impaired response inhibition. Studies typically focused on associations with a single substance, while polysubstance use is common. Further, most studies compared heavy users with light/non-users, though substance use occurs along a continuum. The current mega-analysis accounted for these issues by aggregating individual data from 43 studies (3610 adult participants) that used the Go/No-Go (GNG) or Stop-signal task (SST) to assess inhibition among mostly "recreational" substance users (i.e., the rate of substance use disorders was low). Main and interaction effects of substance use, demographics, and task-characteristics were entered in a linear mixed model. Contrary to many studies and reviews in the field, we found that only lifetime cannabis use was associated with impaired response inhibition in the SST. An interaction effect was also observed: the relationship between tobacco use and response inhibition (in the SST) differed between cannabis users and non-users, with a negative association between tobacco use and inhibition in the cannabis non-users. In addition, participants' age, education level, and some task characteristics influenced inhibition outcomes. Overall, we found limited support for impaired inhibition among substance users when controlling for demographics and task-characteristics

Why does the marshmallow test predict later life outcomes? A commentary on Michaelson and Munakata (2020)

Overall, Munakata and Michaelson (2020) provide novel and provocative findings on the predictive validity of the preschool marshmallow test on the one hand, and the importance of social vs. cognitive (self-control) predictors of later life success on the other hand. Regarding the question of why the marshmallow test predicts later life success, we argue that—in contrast to the authors’ conclusion—their results suggest that self-control provides a better explanation than social support

The association between risky decision making and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms: A preregistered assessment of need for cognition as underlying mechanism

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is related to suboptimal decision making in experimental tasks and to real-life risk-taking behavior (RTB) such as substance abuse and unsafe traffic conduct. In this preregistered study, we tested whether these associations are mediated by need for cognition—the extent to which one tends towards, and enjoys, analytical thought. In a large sample of young adults (N = 463, Mage = 19.7 years), we tested whether need for cognition mediated the association between self-reported ADHD symptoms on the one hand and decision-making strategy complexity on an experimental gambling task and self-reported real-life RTB on the other hand. Preregistered confirmatory analyses indicated first that ADHD symptoms were positively associated with real-life RTB, but the association was not mediated by need for cognition. Second, ADHD symptoms were not related to decision-making strategy complexity, and need for cognition was not a significant mediator. Explorative analyses revealed that (a) need for cognition was associated with higher decision-making accuracy and slower reaction time; (b) need for cognition was related to inattentive but not to hyperactive/impulsive ADHD symptoms; (c) need for cognition was associated with health-related RTB but not interpersonal RTB; and (4) only the association between inattention and health-related RTB was mediated by need for cognition. We conclude that need for cognition is not a mediator in the association between ADHD symptoms and RTB. Additionally, we conclude that neither ADHD symptoms nor need for cognition predict decision-making strategy complexity. Implications for both future research and clinical practice are discussed