TY - JOUR
T1 - Emotion recognition and mind wandering in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism spectrum disorder
AU - Helfer, Bartosz
AU - Boxhoorn, Sara
AU - Songa, Joanna
AU - Steel, Charlotte
AU - Maltezos, Stefanos
AU - Asherson, Philip
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was sponsored by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 643051 and BH, SB and PA were all supported under the same grant. This study reflects the authors' views and none of the funders holds any responsibility for the information provided.
Funding Information:
This study was sponsored by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 643051 and BH, SB and PA were all supported under the same grant. This study reflects the authors' views and none of the funders holds any responsibility for the information provided.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults are often undiagnosed and overlap in psychopathology. Here we investigated the transdiagnostic traits of emotion recognition and mind wandering in a sample of 103 adults (43 with ADHD and 14 with ASD). The ability to correctly identify a facial expression of anger, fear, disgust or surprise was no different between the adults with ADHD or ASD and neurotypical (NT) adults. However, adults with ADHD or ASD were on average almost 200 ms slower in making a correct decision, suggesting a larger speed-accuracy trade-off in facial emotion recognition compared to NT adults. General processing speed was associated with excessive mind wandering in adults with ADHD, but not with ASD. The deficits in emotional processing were independent from mind wandering in both adults with ADHD or ASD. Emotional dysregulation and functional impairment scales separated adults with ADHD and ASD from the NT adults, but not from each other. When controlling for self-reported ADHD and ASD symptom severity, mind wandering in ADHD was independent from both ADHD and ASD symptom severity. In ASD, mind wandering was related to ASD but not ADHD symptom severity. Our results suggest that ASD and ADHD share a slower ability to recognize emotions, which is exacerbated by excessive mind wandering in ADHD, and by decreased processing speed in ASD.
AB - Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults are often undiagnosed and overlap in psychopathology. Here we investigated the transdiagnostic traits of emotion recognition and mind wandering in a sample of 103 adults (43 with ADHD and 14 with ASD). The ability to correctly identify a facial expression of anger, fear, disgust or surprise was no different between the adults with ADHD or ASD and neurotypical (NT) adults. However, adults with ADHD or ASD were on average almost 200 ms slower in making a correct decision, suggesting a larger speed-accuracy trade-off in facial emotion recognition compared to NT adults. General processing speed was associated with excessive mind wandering in adults with ADHD, but not with ASD. The deficits in emotional processing were independent from mind wandering in both adults with ADHD or ASD. Emotional dysregulation and functional impairment scales separated adults with ADHD and ASD from the NT adults, but not from each other. When controlling for self-reported ADHD and ASD symptom severity, mind wandering in ADHD was independent from both ADHD and ASD symptom severity. In ASD, mind wandering was related to ASD but not ADHD symptom severity. Our results suggest that ASD and ADHD share a slower ability to recognize emotions, which is exacerbated by excessive mind wandering in ADHD, and by decreased processing speed in ASD.
KW - Adults
KW - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
KW - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
KW - Emotion recognition
KW - Mind wandering
KW - Transdiagnostic trait
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098173646&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.12.059
DO - 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.12.059
M3 - Article
C2 - 33373778
AN - SCOPUS:85098173646
SN - 0022-3956
VL - 134
SP - 89
EP - 96
JO - Journal of psychiatric research
JF - Journal of psychiatric research
ER -
