Irritability is associated with more severe clinical presentations and poorer longitudinal outcomes among individuals with ADHD. This study, published in BMC Psychiatry, looks at the cognitive mechanisms underlying irritability in individuals with ADHD. The researchers hypothesized that increased irritability would be associated with hot executive functions involving emotional contexts rather than with cool executive functions involving abstract scenarios.
A total of 219 young people with ADHD were included in the study. Irritability was assessed from a parent interview. Associations were analyzed using linear regression analyses. Ultimately, no significant association was found between irritability and cool executive functions. To the researchers’ surprise, irritability was not significantly associated with hot executive functions either.
In short, this study suggests that irritability experienced by young people with ADHD does not seem to be associated with different types of executive function performance [1].
Source:
[1] Colonna, S., Eyre, O., Agha, S. S., Thapar, A., van Goozen, S., & Langley, K. (2022). Investigating the associations between irritability and hot and cool executive functioning in those with ADHD. BMC Psychiatry, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-03818-1
