Sleep-related attentional bias does not associate with symptoms of ADHD in a sample of younger adults

Abstract

Sleep-related attentional bias, wherein exaggerated attention is directed to sleep-related stimuli, has been proposed to be part of the cognitive processes that underpin the development and perpetuation of insomnia. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is commonly associated with clinically significant sleep disturbances, although the nature of the relationship between ADHD and sleep is not well understood. We hypothesised that ADHD symptoms would associate with greater attentional bias to sleep-related stimuli. We used an emotional Stroop task with sleep-related words to assess the presence of sleep attentional bias in a sample of 155 younger adults. ADHD symptoms and consistency with the presence of ADHD was assessed with the Adult ADHD Self Report Screener and insomnia symptoms and probability for the presence of insomnia disorder was assessed with the Sleep Condition Indicator. ADHD symptoms and consistency, and insomnia symptoms and probability for the presence of insomnia disorder, were not found to associate with sleep attentional bias scores. Sleep attentional bias also did not associate with chronotype or social jetlag, but habitual use of an alarm clock on work-free days associated with greater sleep attentional bias. As such, we did not find evidence to support the hypothesis that ADHD symptoms are associated with sleep attentional bias in a sample of healthy younger adults.