Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for internalizing behaviors in college students.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to delineate the moderating roles of negative experiences related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the association between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms and anxiety symptoms and internalizing behaviors during Fall 2020.Method: Participants were 200 college students. Using a moderated moderation model, researchers found that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms predicted anxiety symptoms for those who internalized behaviors and experienced COVID-19 more negatively.Results: Results suggested that ADHD symptoms were playing a role in the manifestation of anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic and that college students who internalize behaviors experienced worsened ADHD symptoms.Conclusion: Clinical implications underscore the importance of providing mental health resources for students on campus, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specialized treatment may include help with developing time management skills and teaching interventions such as mindfulness exercises that may help alleviate anxiety and improve attention and concentration.

Infant behavioral inhibition predicts personality and social outcomes three decades later.

Does infant temperament predict adult personality and life-course patterns? To date, there is scant evidence examining relations between child temperament and adult outcomes, and extant research has relied on limited methods for measuring temperament such as maternal report. This prospective longitudinal study followed a cohort of infants (n = 165) for three decades to examine whether infant behavioral inhibition, a temperament characterized by cautious and fearful behaviors to unfamiliar situations, shapes long-term personality, social relationships, vocational/education, and mental health outcomes in adulthood. At age 14 mo, behavioral inhibition was assessed using an observation paradigm. In adolescence (15 y; n = 115), error monitoring event-related potentials were measured in a flanker task. In adulthood (26 y; n = 109), personality, psychopathology, and sociodemographics were self-reported using questionnaires. We found that infants with higher levels of behavioral inhibition at 14 mo grew up to become more reserved and introverted adults (ß = 0.34) with lower social functioning with friends and family (ß = -0.23) at age 26. Infant behavioral inhibition was also a specific risk factor for adult internalizing (i.e., anxiety and depression, ß = 0.20) psychopathology, rather than a transdiagnostic risk for general and externalizing psychopathology. We identified a neurophysiologic mechanism underlying risk and resilience for later psychopathology. Heightened error monitoring in adolescence moderated higher levels of adult internalizing psychopathology among behaviorally inhibited individuals. These findings suggest meaningful continuity between infant temperament and the development of adult personality. They provide the earliest evidence suggesting that the foundation of long-term well-being is rooted in individual differences in temperament observed in infancy.