Long reduced to difficulty or agitation difficulties, the deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD) continues to deliver its secrets to the researchers. A new study, published in the Journal of CAPTE DISORDERShighlights an aspect of daily life often overlooked. The more marked propensity to feel certain situations such as … monotonous.
Building very quickly, what if it was attention?
For years, many people concerned have reported a recurring feeling of boredom difficult to explain. “”Participants with ADHD features reported a much higher propensity for this feeling than their peers “, underline the researchers. But so far, this feeling has not really been taken into account in diagnoses.
For Sarah Orban, clinical psychologist and main author of the study, this result is far from anecdotal. “Our data show that it is not a simple subjective impression, but a consequence of specific cognitive mechanisms.”
Weakened attention capacities
To assert this, his team thus recruited 88 young adults, 31 of whom presented high features of ADHD. All have completed validated questionnaires and spent six computerized tasks evaluating attention control and working memory.
Unsurprisingly, the results have shown that people with ADHD features declared a much higher propensity to boredom. The observed gap is such that boredom appears to be a frequent experience in their daily lives, with a tangible impact on their lives.
The researchers also found that the participants of the TDAH group obtained lower performance in several tasks mobilizing attention control and working memory. According to Sarah Orban, researcher and co-author of the study interviewed by Psypostthese data indicate that boredom results in part from the difficulties in regulating and maintaining attention, as well as to use working memory effectively.
The authors add that the difficulty in remaining concentrated and in mobilizing cognitive resources could explain why the sensations of boredom appear faster and more intense in these individuals.
Results that remain to be qualified
As often in research, these results should be taken with care. The sample remained limited and mainly composed of students. Researchers also recognize that “Symptoms and the level of feelings were evaluated by self-questionnaires“, a useful but imperfect tool.
In addition, not all participants received a medical diagnosis. “This is why we are talking about features and not established disorder”, specifies Sarah Orban.
“”No isolated sign is enough“, why is self-diagnosis not enough
The study opens a new track, but should not lead to hasty conclusions or an improperly precise car diagnosis. Professor Olivier Bonnot, child psychiatrist, insisted in our pages recently. “Psychiatric disorders, including ADHD, are diagnosed on clinical elements. No isolated testing or questionnaire makes it possible to conclude. Only a professional, with in -depth knowledge of disorders, can establish a reliable diagnosis”. In other words, frequently feeling this type of discomfort does not necessarily mean being affected by ADHD. “It is not the existence of an isolated sign that counts. But the entire clinical picture and its impact on daily life”recalled the specialist.
In the end, this study confirms that an apparently banal detail can become a relevant indicator to better understand ADHD. It also underlines the need to continue research with wider samples. Because to better understand these experiences could ultimately help develop more suitable support strategies.