Inhibiting automatic responses through implementation intentions in children with ADHD

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that implementation intentions (“if-then” plans) are an effective instrument for self-regulation and action control and thereby facilitate goal attainment (Gollwitzer, 1999). This has been shown both in studies with healthy participants (e.g., students) and in clinical samples (e.g., patients with frontal-lobe damage and schizophrenia). Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show impairments in action control and deficits in executive functions. The aim of the present study was to examine whether implementation intentions can help children with ADHD improve their performance on a behavioral inhibition task. Behavioral inhibition is a component of executive functions and can be measured with the Stroop task (Stroop, 1935). A total of 63 children aged 7 to 10 years participated in the study. Thirty-one children had an ADHD diagnosis; the other 32 formed the control group. According to a randomization schedule, the children were assigned to one of three experimental conditions: a goal-intention condition, a task-continuation implementation-intention condition, or a temptation-inhibition implementation-intention condition. To prevent the reading and spelling difficulties frequently comorbid with ADHD from confounding pure performance, this experiment used not the classic Stroop task but a modified version, the Number Stroop Task (Flowers, Warner & Polansky, 1979). All children completed the Number Stroop Task on a computer. Additional stimulation in the form of a neon-green screen was also presented. Reaction times and number of errors were recorded as dependent variables. In the current study, no performance differences were found between the ADHD and control groups. Furthermore, children in both groups appeared to benefit most from the temptation-inhibition implementation intention. Children's performance was independent of age. It was also found that children in both groups benefited not from the color stimulation itself, but rather from the color change within a task block. One possible explanation for the reported results may be that the task was not difficult for the children with ADHD and that the additional formulation of an implementation intention therefore did not produce a clear performance improvement.