Investigating Emotion Dysregulation and the Perseveration- and Flow-Like Characteristics of ADHD Hyperfocus in Canadian Undergraduate Students

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been referred to as a disorder of dysregulation due to its paradoxical association with hyperfocus: periods of intense concentration, often during interesting tasks. However, existing descriptions and measures of hyperfocus might tap into related constructs like perseveration and/or flow. Furthermore, previous studies have not sufficiently accounted for comorbidities like depression when examining the specificity of hyperfocus to ADHD. Therefore, the present study investigated the relations between hyperfocus, perseveration, and flow from a transdiagnostic emotion dysregulation perspective to facilitate insights into the separate associations between the attentional and emotional components of ADHD and hyperfocus-like experiences. In a nonclinical sample (neither ADHD nor another mental health diagnosis reported, n = 186), the following were examined: (a) the correlation between ADHD symptomatology and emotion dysregulation tendencies, (b) the similarities between hyperfocus, perseveration, and flow measures, and (c) the predictability of phenomena scores by ADHD symptomatology over and above emotion dysregulation tendencies. Then, the scores of 26 clinical participants (i.e., self-reported ADHD with or without comorbidities) and a matched sample of 26 nonclinical participants were compared to examine the clinical specificity of hyperfocus, perseveration, and flow. The results replicated existing findings regarding the clinical specificity of hyperfocus and its relation to ADHD symptomatology. The results also extended the literature by confirming a more perseveration-like approach to the conceptualization and measurement of hyperfocus in the existing literature, although ADHD symptomatology accounted for more unique variance in hyperfocus scores than in perseveration scores. Finally, future avenues for research on these topics are discussed.