Distinct affective and impulsivity-related profiles are associated with facets of state boredom in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Figueiredo, Tiago; Seiler, Johannes P.-H. · 2026 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-63382-6

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Summary

This supplementary material supports a study investigating the relationship between psychopathological profiles and state boredom in adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The research aims to determine how individual variations in psychometric features, such as affective symptoms and impulsivity, correlate with different facets of boredom experience. The study utilizes a sample of 47 adult ADHD patients, characterized by demographic data, cognitive function metrics, and specific psychometric ratings. The methodology involves a principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce dimensionality and identify global axes of psychometric variance among the patients. The analysis incorporates ten dimensions: depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21); inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity (ASRS-18); and lack of premeditation, positive urgency, negative urgency, sensation-seeking, and lack of perseverance (UPPS). These components are then tested for correlation with scores from the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS), which measures total boredom and specific sub-scales including disengagement, high arousal, inattention, low arousal, and time perception. Additionally, Pearson correlations are computed to assess relationships between boredom scores, age, IQ, and performance on the Psychological Battery for Attention Assessment (BPA). The findings indicate that the first two principal components explain the most variance in boredom ratings, with PC1 accounting for 33.2% and PC2 for 22.6% of the variance. Loadings reveal that impulsivity traits (particularly negative urgency and positive urgency) and depressive symptoms are the strongest contributors to these components. Supplementary Figure 1 illustrates a systematic relation between individual psychometric patterns and boredom experience, showing color-coded gradients that link pooled psychometric features to specific boredom facets. Regarding demographic and cognitive factors, only the "Time Perception" sub-scale of boredom showed a significant negative correlation with age (r = -0.422, p = 0.003). No significant correlations were found between total boredom or other sub-scales and IQ scores. In terms of attention task performance, only the "Time Perception" sub-scale correlated significantly with omission errors in the BPA (r = 0.392, p = 0.009), while total boredom showed a non-significant trend toward correlation with omissions (p = 0.081). The significance of these results lies in the identification of distinct affective and impulsivity-related profiles that are associated with facets of state boredom in ADHD adults. The data suggest that boredom is not a uniform experience but is systematically linked to specific psychometric patterns, particularly those involving urgency and depression. Furthermore, the specific association between time perception distortions and both age and attentional omissions highlights a potential mechanistic link between cognitive control deficits and the subjective experience of boredom in this population.

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• sensation seeking