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Contribution title	3190 - Reaction Time Variability and Inattentive Behavior in Children with ADHD
Contribution code	PS01-51 (P)
Authors	Jane Teo Institute of Mental Health, Singapore Presenter Choon Guan Lim Institute of Mental Health, Singapore Tih-Shih Lee Duke-NUS Medical School Cuntai Guan Nanyang Technological University Haihong Zhang A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research Yin Bun Cheung Duke-NUS Medical School Daniel Shuen Sheng Fung Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
Form of presentation	Poster
Topic	ADHD
Abstract	Objectives Children with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit slower reaction times on neurophysiological tasks. They also display greater reaction time variability (RTV), which refers to inconsistencies in the child’s speed of responding, as compared to non-ADHD peers. Current literature suggests that RTV reflects attention lapses. However, little is known about the nature of RTV in this population. The present study thus aims to examine if RTV is linked to ADHD-related behaviors in a sample of clinically referred children. Based on the overall RTV measure on the Connor’s Continuous Performance Test (CPT) task, we hypothesize that RTV will be positively and significantly correlated with inattentive behaviors. Methods 172 children aged 6-12 years old (M= 8.63, SD= 1.51) were recruited at the Child Guidance Clinic. All participants were clinically diagnosed with ADHD by a child psychiatrist and fulfilled the criteria of either inattentive (IA) or combined (COM) subtype of ADHD through the Computerized Diagnostic Interview for Children (C-DISC). Child participants completed the CPT while parents completed the ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS) [Subscales: Inattentive, Hyperactive-Impulsive and Total Behaviours]. Results A correlational analysis revealed no significant relationships between overall RTV and Inattentive behaviors (r= .15, n=116, p>.05). RTV was also not significantly related to Hyperactive-Impulsive (r= .05, n=116, p>.05) and Total behaviors (r= .10, n=116, p>.05). Conclusion Contrary to existing literature, RTV was not significantly related to inattentive behaviors. This could be due to the nature of the CPT task, which has been likened to a test of inhibitory control rather than attention. Recent research also suggests that RTV is a stable feature across clinical disorders and is non-specific to ADHD. Future research should seek to better understand the underlying causes of RTV for targeted treatment.