Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Do Childhood Emotional Lability and ADHD Symptoms Have Shared Neuropsychological Roots?

  • Published:
Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Emotional Lability (EL) is a source of impairment in multiple mental disorders of children, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It has been proposed that the overlap between EL and ADHD symptoms is the result of common neuropsychological deficits. The aim of the present study was to test this hypothesis by using a multi-method approach. In a mixed sample of 61 children (49 community sample and 12 children with an ADHD diagnosis) aged between 8 and 12 years, we examined the relationship between parental reports of ADHD and EL, real-time children’s emotional expressions in an experimental context, children’s performance on neuropsychological tasks and parental ratings of neuropsychological functioning. Parental EL ratings were significantly predicted by task-based reaction time variability and by questionnaire measures of Self-Direction & Organization and Arousal Regulation. Parental EL ratings were also significantly related to both ADHD symptom dimensions. After controlling for shared neuropsychological factors, ADHD symptoms no longer predicted parental EL ratings. Neuropsychological task performance was not significantly related to real time emotional expressions. However, positive emotional expressions were significantly predicted by higher parental ratings of Cognition and negative emotional expressions by parental ratings of low Effort engagement – accounting for some of the correlation with ADHD symptoms. The current results highlight the plausible role of cognitive energetic processes in explaining the EL and ADHD symptom association.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amsel, A. (1958). The role of frustrative nonreward in noncontinuous reward situations. Psychological Bulletin, 55(2), 102–119.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Amsel, A. (1962). Frustrative nonreward in partial reinforcement and discrimination learning: Some recent history and a theoretical extension. Psychological Review, 69(4), 306–328.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Amsel, A. (1992). Frustration theory: Many years later. Psychological Bulletin, 112(3), 396–399.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Anastopoulos, A. D., Smith, T. F., Garrett, M. E., Morrissey-Kane, E., Schatz, N. K., Sommer, J. L., Kollins, S. H., & Ashley-Koch, A. (2011). Self-regulation of emotion, functional impairment, and comorbidity among children with AD/HD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 15(7), 583–592. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054710370567.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Banaschewski, T., Jennen-Steinmetz, C., Brandeis, D., Buitelaar, J. K., Kuntsi, J., Poustka, L., ... Asherson, P. (2012). Neuropsychological correlates of emotional lability in children with ADHD. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2012(6), 1469–7610.

  • Barkley, R. A. (1997). Behavioral inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functions: Constructing a unifying theory of ADHD. Psychological Bulletin, 121(1), 65–94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barkley, R. A. (2010). Why emotional impulsiveness should be a central feature of ADHD. The ADHD Report, 18(4), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1521/adhd.2010.18.4.1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barkley, R. A., & Fischer, M. (2010). The unique contribution of emotional impulsiveness to impairment in major life activities in hyperactive children as adults. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(5), 503–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2010.01.019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, L. F., Quigley, K. S., Bliss-Moreau, E., & Aronson, K. R. (2004). Interoceptive sensitivity and self-reports of emotional experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(5), 684–697. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.5.684.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchaine, T. P. (2015). Future directions in emotion Dysregulation and youth psychopathology. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 44(5), 875–896. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1038827.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benjamini, Y., & Hochberg, Y. (1995). Controlling the false discovery rate: A practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. Journal of the Royal statistical society: series B (Methodological), 57(1), 289–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bitsakou, P., Psychogiou, L., Thompson, M., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2009). Delay aversion in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: An empirical investigation of the broader phenotype. Neuropsychologia, 47(2), 446–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.09.015.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blair, C. (2002). School readiness: Integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualization of children's functioning at school entry. American Psychologist, 57(2), 111–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolea-Alamañac, B., Nutt, D. J., Adamou, M., Asherson, P., Bazire, S., Coghill, D., ... & Sayal, K. (2014). Evidence-based guidelines for the pharmacological management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Update on recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 28(3), 179–203.

  • Bunford, N., Evans, S. W., & Langberg, J. M. (2014). Emotion Dysregulation is associated with social impairment among young adolescents with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 22, 66–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054714527793.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, G., Luu, P., & Posner, M. I. (2000). Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4(6), 215–222.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Childress, A. C., & Sallee, F. R. (2015, August 13). Emotional lability in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Impact of pharmacotherapy. CNS Drugs, 29, 683–693. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40263-015-0264-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coghill, D., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2012). Annual research review: Categories versus dimensions in the classification and conceptualisation of child and adolescent mental disorders–implications of recent empirical study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53(5), 469–489.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coghill, D. R., Seth, S., & Matthews, K. (2013). A comprehensive assessment of memory, delay aversion, timing, inhibition, decision making and variability in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: advancing beyond the three-pathway models. Psychol Med, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291713002547.

  • Dovis, S., Van der Oord, S., Wiers, R. W., & Prins, P. J. M. (2012). Can motivation normalize working memory and task persistence in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? The effects of money and computer-gaming. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40(5), 669–681. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-011-9601-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ebner-Priemer, U. W., & Trull, T. J. (2009). Ambulatory assessment an innovative and promising approach for clinical psychology. European Psychologist, 14(2), 109–119. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.14.2.109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elmaghrabi, S., Nahmias, M. J., Adamo, N., Di Martino, A., Somandepalli, K., Patel, V., et al. (2020). Is increased response time variability related to deficient emotional self-regulation in children with ADHD? Journal of Attention Disorders, 24(7), 1045–1056.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fortunato, C. K., Gatzke-Kopp, L. M., & Ram, N. (2013). Associations between respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity and internalizing and externalizing symptoms are emotion specific. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 13(2), 238–251. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-012-0136-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gisbert, L., Richarte, V., Corrales, M., Ibáñez, P., Bosch, R., Bellina, M., Fadeuilhe, C., Casas, M., & Ramos-Quiroga, J. A. (2019). The relationship between neuropsychological deficits and emotional Lability in adults with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 23(12), 1514–1525.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graziano, P. A., & Garcia, A. (2016). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and children's emotion dysregulation: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 46, 106–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.04.011.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Groves, N. B., Kofler, M. J., Wells, E. L., Day, T. N., & Chan, E. S. (2020). An examination of relations among working memory, ADHD symptoms, and emotion regulation. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1–13.

  • Haslam, N., Williams, B., Prior, M., Haslam, R., Graetz, B., & Sawyer, M. (2006). The latent structure of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A taxometric analysis. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 40(8), 639–647. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1614.2006.01863.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoeksma, J. B., Oosterlaan, J., & Schipper, E. M. (2004). Emotion regulation and the dynamics of feelings: A conceptual and methodological framework. Child Development, 75(2), 354–360.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, D. A., Høvik, M. F., Monsen, N. J. N., Eggen, T. H., Eichele, H., Adolfsdottir, S., Plessen, K. J., & Sørensen, L. (2018). Keeping emotions in mind: The influence of working memory capacity on parent-reported symptoms of emotional lability in a sample of children with and without ADHD. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1846.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rao, U. M. A., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., ... & Ryan, N. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children-present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(7), 980–988.

  • Kring, A. M., & Sloan, D. M. (2007). The facial expression coding system (FACES): Development, validation, and utility. Psychological Assessment, 19(2), 210–224.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsi, J., Oosterlaan, J., & Stevenson, J. (2001a). Psychological mechanisms in hyperactivity: I response inhibition deficit, working memory impairment, delay aversion, or something else? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(2), 199–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsi, J., Stevenson, J., Oosterlaan, J., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2001b). Test-retest reliability of a new delay aversion task and executive function measures. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 19(3), 339–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsi, J., Wood, A. C., Van Der Meere, J., & Asherson, P. (2009). Why cognitive performance in ADHD may not reveal true potential: findings from a large population-based sample. J Int Neuropsychol Soc, 15(4), 570–579. https://doi.org/10.1017/S135561770909081X.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O. (2014). The research domain criteria (RDoC): An analysis of methodological and conceptual challenges. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 62, 129–139.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, L., Chen, W., Sun, L., Cheng, J., Su, Y., Rudaizky, D., Li, H. M., Yang, L., Qian, Q. J., & Wang, Y.-F. (2017). The characteristics and age effects of emotional Lability in ADHD children with and without oppositional defiant disorder. Journal of Attention Disorders, 2042–2053. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054717745594.

  • Liu, L., Chen, W., Vitoratou, S., Sun, L., Yu, X., Hagger-Johnson, G., Wu, Z., Yang, L., Qian, Q., & Wang, Y. (2019). Is Emotional Lability Distinct From “Angry/Irritable Mood,” “Negative Affect,” or Other Subdimensions of Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Children With ADHD? Journal of Attention Disorders, 23(8), 859–868. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054715624228.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luman, M., Oosterlaan, J., & Sergeant, J. A. (2005). The impact of reinforcement contingencies on AD/HD: A review and theoretical appraisal. Clinical Psychology Review, 25(2), 183–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2004.11.001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luman, M., van Noesel, S. J., Papanikolau, A., Van Oostenbruggen-Scheffer, J., Veugelers, D., Sergeant, J. A., & Oosterlaan, J. (2009). Inhibition, reinforcement sensitivity and temporal information processing in ADHD and ADHD+ODD: Evidence of a separate entity? J Abnorm Child Psychol, 37(8), 1123–1135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-009-9334-0.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Machado, L., & Cantilino, A. (2017). A systematic review of the neural correlates of positive emotions. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 39(2), 172–179. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2016-1988.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marco, R., Miranda, A., Schlotz, W., Melia, A., Mulligan, A., Muller, U., ... Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2009). Delay and reward choice in ADHD: an experimental test of the role of delay aversion. Neuropsychology, 23(3), 367–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014914.

  • Martin, R. E., & Ochsner, K. N. (2016). The neuroscience of emotion regulation development: Implications for education. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 10, 142–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.06.006.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Martinussen, R., & Tannock, R. (2006). Working memory impairments in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder with and without comorbid language learning disorders. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 28(7), 1073–1094.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Merwood, A., Chen, W., Rijsdijk, F., Skirrow, C., Larsson, H., Thapar, A., Kuntsi, J., & Asherson, P. (2014). Genetic associations between the symptoms of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder and emotional lability in child and adolescent twins. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(2), 209–220.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.11.006.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Metin, B., Roeyers, H., Wiersema, J. R., van der Meere, J., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2012). A meta-analytic study of event rate effects on go/no-go performance in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 72(12), 990–996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.08.023.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nichols, S. L., & Waschbusch, D. A. (2004). A review of the validity of laboratory cognitive tasks used to assess symptoms of ADHD. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 34(4), 297–315.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nigg, J. T. (2006). What causes ADHD? Understanding what Goes wrong and why. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nutt, D. J., Fone, K., Asherson, P., Bramble, D., Hill, P., Matthews, K., ... & Weiss, M. (2007). Evidence-based guidelines for management of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adolescents in transition to adult services and in adults: Recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 21(1), 10–41.

  • Ochsner, K. N., Silvers, J. A., & Buhle, J. T. (2012). Functional imaging studies of emotion regulation: A synthetic review and evolving model of the cognitive control of emotion. In A. Kingstone & M. B. Miller (Eds.), Year in Cognitive Neuroscience (Vol. 1251, pp. E1-E24).

  • Oosterlaan, J., Baeyens, D., Scheres, A., Antrop, I., Roeyers, H., & Sergeant, J. (2008). VvGK6–16: Vragenlijst voor gedragsproblemen bij kinderen 6 tot en met 16 jaar. Amsterdam: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orobio de Castro, B., Slot, N. W., Bosch, J. D., Koops, W., & Veerman, J. W. (2003). Negative feelings exacerbate hostile attributions of intent in highly aggressive boys. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32(1), 56–65. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15374424JCCP3201_06.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, S. M., Park, J., Seth, S., & Coghill, D. R. (2012). A comprehensive investigation of memory impairment in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 53(2), 128–137. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02436.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, P. J., Walerius, D. M., Fogleman, N. D., & Factor, P. I. (2015). The association of emotional lability and emotional and behavioral difficulties among children with and without ADHD. Atten Defic Hyperact Disord, 7(4), 281–294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-015-0175-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, J., & Barrett, L. (1999). Core affect, prototypical emotional episodes, and other things called emotion: Dissecting the elephant. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(5), 805–819.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scheres, A., Oosterlaan, J., & Sergeant, J. A. (2001). Response execution and inhibition in children with AD/HD and other disruptive disorders: The role of behavioural activation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 42(3), 347–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seidman, L. J. (2006). Neuropsychological functioning in people with ADHD across the lifespan. Clinical Psychology Review, 26(4), 466–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.01.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sergeant, J. (2000). The cognitive-energetic model: An empirical approach to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 24(1), 7–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sergeant, J. (2005). Modeling attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A critical appraisal of the cognitive-energetic model. Biological Psychiatry, 57(11), 1248–1255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bps.2004.09.010.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, M. A., Pennington, B. F., Yerys, B. E., Scott, A., Boada, R., Willcutt, E. G., ... DeFries, J. C. (2006). Processing speed deficits in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and reading disability. J Abnorm Child Psychol, 34(5), 585-602. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9037-8.

  • Shaw, P., Stringaris, A., Nigg, J., & Leibenluft, E. (2014). Emotion dysregulation in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(3), 276–293. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13070966.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Shrout, P. E., & Fleiss, J. L. (1979). Intraclass correlations: Uses in assessing rater reliability. Psychological Bulletin, 86(2), 420–428.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sjöwall, D., Roth, L., Lindqvist, S., & Thorell, L. B. (2013). Multiple deficits in ADHD: Executive dysfunction, delay aversion, reaction time variability, and emotional deficits. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(6), 619–627.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skirrow, C., & Asherson, P. (2013). Emotional lability, comorbidity and impairment in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 147(1–3), 80–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.10.011.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skirrow, C., McLoughlin, G., Kuntsi, J., & Asherson, P. (2009). Behavioral, neurocognitive and treatment overlap between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and mood instability. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 9(4), 489–503. https://doi.org/10.1586/ern.09.2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A., Taylor, E., Rogers, J. W., Newman, S., & Rubia, K. (2002). Evidence for a pure time perception deficit in children with ADHD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43(4), 529–542.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sobanski, E., Banaschewski, T., Asherson, P., Buitelaar, J., Chen, W., Franke, B., Holtmann, M., Krumm, B., Sergeant, J., Sonuga-Barke, E., Stringaris, A., Taylor, E., Anney, R., Ebstein, R. P., Gill, M., Miranda, A., Mulas, F., Oades, R. D., Roeyers, H., Rothenberger, A., Steinhausen, H. C., & Faraone, S. V. (2010). Emotional lability in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Clinical correlates and familial prevalence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(8), 915–923. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02217.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S., Taylor, E., Sembi, S., & Smith, J. (1992). Hyperactivity and delay aversion—I. The effect of delay on choice. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33(2), 387–398.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S., Bitsakou, P., & Thompson, M. (2010). Beyond the dual pathway model: Evidence for the dissociation of timing, inhibitory, and delay-related impairments in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(4), 345–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2009.12.018.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stringaris, A., & Goodman, R. (2009). Three dimensions of oppositionality in youth. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(3), 216–223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01989.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Surman, C. B. H., Biederman, J., Spencer, T., Miller, C. A., Petty, C. R., & Faraone, S. V. (2015). Neuropsychological deficits are not predictive of deficient emotional self-regulation in adults with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 19(12), 1046–1053. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054713476548.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Toplak, M. E., & Tannock, R. (2005). Tapping and anticipation performance in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 100(3), 659–675. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.100.3.659-675.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Toplak, M. E., Dockstader, C., & Tannock, R. (2006). Temporal information processing in ADHD: findings to date and new methods. J Neurosci Methods, 151(1), 15–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2005.09.018.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Toplak, M. E., West, R. F., & Stanovich, K. E. (2012). Practitioner review: Do performance-based measures and ratings of executive function assess the same construct? J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 54(2), 131–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van der Meere, J. (2005). State regulation and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (pp. 413–433). Totowa: Humana Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • van der Oord, S., & Tripp, G. (2020). How to improve behavioral parent and teacher training for children with ADHD: Integrating empirical research on learning and motivation into treatment. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 23, 577–604.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Van Liefferinge, D., Sonuga-Barke, E., Van Broeck, N., Van Der Oord, S., Lemiere, J., & Danckaerts, M. (2017). A rating measure of ADHD-related neuropsychological impairment in children and adolescents: Data from the cognition and motivation in everyday life (CAMEL) scale from population and clinical samples. Child Neuropsychol, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/09297049.2016.1170798.

  • Van Liefferinge, D., Sonuga-Barke, E., Danckaerts, M., Van Broeck, N., & Van Der Oord, S. (2018). Measuring child and adolescent emotional lability: How do questionnaire-based ratings relate to experienced and observed emotion in everyday life and experimental settings? International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 27(3), e1720.

  • Verbruggen, F., Logan, G. D., & Stevens, M. A. (2008). STOP-IT: Windows executable software for the stop-signal paradigm. Behavior Research Methods, 40(2), 479–483.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verbruggen, F., Chambers, C. D., & Logan, G. D. (2013). Fictitious inhibitory differences: How skewness and slowing distort the estimation of stopping latencies. Psychological Science, 24(3), 352–362.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • von Leupoldt, A., Rohde, J., Beregova, A., Thordsen-Sorensen, I., zur Nieden, J., & Dahme, B. (2007). Films for eliciting emotional states in children. Behavior Research Methods, 39(3), 606–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walcott, C. M., & Landau, S. (2004). The relation between disinhibition and emotion regulation in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33(4), 772–782. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp3304_12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Willcutt, E. G. (2012). The prevalence of DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review. Neurotherapeutics, 9(3), 490–499.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Willcutt, E. G., Doyle, A. E., Nigg, J. T., Faraone, S. V., & Pennington, B. F. (2005). Validity of the executive function theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review. Biological Psychiatry, 57(11), 1336–1346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.02.006.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zelazo, P. D., & Cunningham, W. A. (2007). Executive Function: Mechanisms Underlying Emotion Regulation. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (p. 135–158). The Guilford Press.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Psychiatric Centre KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Dagmar Van Liefferinge

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, PO85, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK

    Edmund J. S. Sonuga-Barke

  3. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences and University Psychiatric Centre KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Marina Danckaerts

  4. Research Group Clinical Psychology, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102 box 3720, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Nady Van Broeck & Saskia van der Oord

Authors
  1. Dagmar Van Liefferinge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Edmund J. S. Sonuga-Barke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marina Danckaerts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nady Van Broeck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Saskia van der Oord
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dagmar Van Liefferinge.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the regional ethics committee.

Conflict of Interest

Edmund J S Sonuga-Barke declares the following competing interests: Fees for speaking, consultancy, research funding and conference support from Shire Pharma; Speaker fees from Janssen Cilag, Medice & Qbtech; Book royalties from OUP and Jessica Kingsley; Consultancy from Neurotech solutions.

Marina Danckaerts declares the following competing interests: Fees for speaking, consultancy, research funding and conference support from Shire and Janssen Cilag Pharma; Book royalties from OUP and Van Gorcum; Consultancy from Neurotech solutions.

Saskia van der Oord has been involved in the development, implementation, and trialing of an executive functioning game training for children with ADHD, and a cognitive behavioral planning intervention for adolescents with ADHD. She has no financial interests in either of these interventions. She was a speaker for Medice & Shire.

The present study is unrelated to the above grants and relationships. The other author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Van Liefferinge, D., Sonuga-Barke, E.J.S., Danckaerts, M. et al. Do Childhood Emotional Lability and ADHD Symptoms Have Shared Neuropsychological Roots?. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 43, 491–505 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-020-09859-8

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-020-09859-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation