Episodic Future Thinking Improves Everyday Prospective Memory Performance in Adults With a Previous Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder by Community Providers

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of the encoding strategy episodic future thinking on prospective memory performance (i.e., remembering to execute intended actions in the future) in individuals with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by community providers. Individuals with ADHD often have difficulties to plan and execute delayed intentions in everyday life; thus, they show reduced prospective memory performance. Several studies indicate that engaging in episodic future thinking (i.e., mentally imagining executing the planned activity) during intention formation can improve prospective memory performance in typically developing populations in lab-based settings. To assess the execution of everyday intentions, we requested participants to perform the diary task. Thirty-two adults with ADHD and 31 controls were allocated to an episodic future thinking encoding condition and 31 adults with ADHD and 33 controls to a standard encoding condition. Analyses of variance revealed significant main effects of group and of encoding condition. Overall, controls remembered to execute more intentions than individuals with ADHD. Across groups, episodic future thinking increased the realization of intentions as compared to the standard encoding condition; however, this effect was no longer significant when verbal ability was statistically controlled. There was no significant interaction effect. This study replicates earlier findings of reduced intention execution in ADHD and provides preliminary support for episodic future thinking as a strategy to enhance PM in daily life, though its effects may depend on verbal ability, warranting further research.