The role of moment-to-moment dynamics of perceived stress and negative affect in co-occurring ADHD and internalising symptoms.
Lydia Gabriela Speyer, Ruth Harriet Brown, Denis Ribeaud and 2 others
PMID 35674983WHAT IT FOUND
Young adults with higher ADHD traits reported more daily stress and negative mood.
However, when researchers accounted for sex, family background, and socio-economic status, the link between ADHD traits and moment-to-moment stress reactivity disappeared.
Key findings
01At the between-person level, ADHD traits significantly moderated the within-person coupling between stress and negative affect, increasing the strength of their associations.
02Results of the model including covariates suggested that the moderating effect of ADHD on the within-person coupling between stress and negative affect as well as stress inertia did not hold when accounting for sex, primary caregiver country of origin and childhood SES.
03Higher ADHD traits were associated with higher mean levels of both stress and negative affect.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used cross-sectional data for mediation analysis, limiting causal inference. Participants were young adults from a specific Swiss cohort, so findings may not generalise to other populations or clinical groups. The study relied on self-report measures for ADHD, internalising symptoms, stress, and affect. The loss of significance for key ADHD effects after adding covariates suggests that demographic factors (sex, SES, caregiver origin) play a major role in stress dynamics, potentially overlapping with or explaining ADHD-related effects. High missingness (~54%) in the EMA data was handled via Bayesian estimation, which may affect precision.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, the Jacobs Foundation, and the Jacobs Center. No other conflicts of interest are declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that ADHD traits alone cause heightened moment-to-moment stress reactivity. When sex, socio-economic status, and caregiver background were included in the analysis, the specific effect of ADHD on stress reactivity dynamics was no longer significant, suggesting these demographic factors are crucial confounders.