Abstract
ADHD and anxiety frequently occur together; however, the cognitive
outcomes of co-morbid anxiety and ADHD are not straightforward. A
potential explanation for conflicting results in the literature may be
that different core ADHD symptoms show different interactions with
anxiety depending on the task processing demands. To address this
question, we investigated whether different ADHD traits are related to
different inhibitory outcomes, contingent upon the level of trait
anxiety. The sample consists of 60 non-clinical university students (X
̅age= 20.5, 53% male). Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS-SL) and
State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to measure ADHD-traits
and anxiety, respectively. The participants completed a visual Go/NoGo
task with and without distractor conditions while continuous EEG was
recorded. Inhibitory control was operationalized as the frontocentral N2
maximum peak amplitude elicited in response inhibition (NoGo/No
Distractor), cognitive inhibition (Go/Distractor), dual inhibition
(NoGo/Distractor), and control (Go/No Distractor) conditions. We
analyzed the moderating effect of trait anxiety on the prediction of
inhibitory control by ADHD scores for each Go/NoGo condition with the
varying inhibition demands. Results showed that trait anxiety moderated
the effects of total ADHD and hyperactivity-impulsivity scores, but only
in the response inhibition condition (NoGo/No Distractor). Additionally,
inattentiveness was related to attenuated N2 amplitudes in the cognitive
inhibition condition (Go/Distractor). These findings suggest that
depending on the inhibitory demands of the task, unique cognitive
outcomes may occur when different ADHD traits coexist with anxiety.