The Relationship between Impulsivity and Time Perception in Adolescents with ADHD

Introduction: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is a mental neurodevelopmental disorder mainly characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and impaired time perception.
Objectives: Our main goal was to determine the relationship between time perception and impulsiveness in adolescents with and without ADHD.
Methods: 156 adolescents with ADHD (mean age=16.52±1.63; male/female ratio=91.65) were placed in the case group and 198 mentally and physically healthy adolescents (mean age=16.84±1.49; male/female ratio=111.87) were placed in the control group. The performance of the subjects of the two groups was evaluated in the go/no go test and time perception task (time estimation and time production) and compared with each other. Furthermore, considering the group factor as a control variable, the partial correlation between the subscales of the go/no go test and the subscales of the time perception task were measured.
Results: Independent t-test showed significant differences between groups in terms of commission error, inhibition, reaction time, 10-, 20-, 40, and 80-second time estimation, and also 10-, 20-, 40-, and 80-second time production. Inhibition and reaction time were negatively correlated with all of the estimation time intervals and were positively correlated with all of the production times. Commission error was negatively correlated with all of the all of the production times and was positively correlated with all of the estimation time intervals.
Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that subjects with less response control ability had estimated the time intervals longer than their actual durations and had produced time intervals shorter than the requested time intervals in the time production task.