Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Date

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Frank Andrasik

Committee Member

Helen Sable

Committee Member

James Murphy

Committee Member

Jeffrey Sable

Abstract

Emotion dysregulation (ED) has become increasingly recognized as an important dimension of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and externalizing pathology. However, little is known regarding the neural processes underlying ED in adults with ADHD. Two event-related potentials (ERPs), the late positive potential (LPP) and probe P3, have been found to capture important facets of motivational attention during the passive viewing of affective images. We aimed to explore the influence of ADHD and externalizing symptomatology--as indexed by self-report and behavioral measures--on the centroparietal LPP, frontocentral LPP, and probe P3 using a preappraisal paradigm. Sixty-eight undergraduate students completed the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory (ESI-100) and Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale for DSM-5 (ASRS-5) before visiting our laboratory to have electroencephalographic (EEG) activity recorded. Participants were grouped based on their total ESI-100 scores and whether they screened positive or negative for ADHD. Participants viewed 50 neutral and 50 negative International Affective Picture System (IAPS) images preceded by either a neutral or negative description and rated their valence and arousal following each description-picture pair using the Self-Assessment Manakin (SAM). In addition, participants were presented with startle probes that played either 1.5 s or 4.5 s post-picture onset and during the intertrial interval on a select number of trials. Following EEG recordings, participants completed a modified continuous performance test (CPT) assessing sustained attention and response inhibition. Participants’ subjective arousal and valence ratings and LPP amplitudes differentiated between neutral and negative stimuli. Participants had larger centroparietal and frontocentral LPPs following negative pairings than neutral ones. In addition, the LPP appeared to vary more prominently by preappraisal conditions between 1 and 3 s. Externalizing did not appear to be associated with significant differences in the LPP or probe P3. However, those who screened positive for ADHD exhibited a larger frontocentral LPP. In addition, they exhibited an attenuated probe P3 during picture viewing, but a reduced response in the absence of affective images relative to those with a negative ADHD screen. Overall, findings suggest that ADHD symptomatology, rather than a higher-order externalizing factor, is associated with meaningful differences in neural indices of emotional processing and attention allocation.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest/Clarivate.

Notes

Open Access

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