Examination of the Dynamic Relationships of Sleep, Physical Activity, and Circadian Rhythmicity With Neurobehavioral Heterogeneity in ADHD

NCT ID: NCT06810180

Last Updated: 2025-11-19

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

200 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-06-17

Study Completion Date

2032-06-30

Brief Summary

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Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can present differently in individuals, with some individuals having difficulty with attentional control, hyperactivity, impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, and/or neurobehavioral functioning. The factors contributing to these different presentations remain unclear, but altered patterns of physical activity, sleep, and circadian rest/activity rhythms may play a key role.

The goal of this study is to leverage wearable technology (i.e., a wristband) to investigate the relationships between physical activity during the day, sleep patterns and disturbances, and 24-hour circadian rest/activity rhythms with differences in ADHD symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and related brain and behavioral features of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The investigators hope this study will help improve assessment and intervention for individuals with ADHD by understanding how these factors relate to ADHD symptom expression and associated brain differences in ADHD.

Participants taking stimulant medication must withhold stimulant medication 24 hours before their research appointment and the morning of their research appointment. Stimulant medication may be restarted after the appointment is complete.

Participation in this study will require children to complete an initial 2-hour research appointment, two (2) weeks of activity and sleep monitoring at home using a wearable wristband and answering questions sent to a smartphone, and a second 4-hour research appointment after the 2-week period.

During the first research appointment, children will complete a cognitive assessment and a practice magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Parents/legal guardians will participate in the 30-45-minute sleep device training session with one of the research staff.

During the two weeks of activity/sleep monitoring at home, parents and children will answer questions about their sleep routine, ADHD symptoms, and emotional responding each morning and evening. Parents will be asked to install a questionnaire application on their smartphone. A prompt will be sent to their smartphone multiple times per day reminding parents to complete the brief assessment.

After the 2-week period, children will complete a 4-hour research appointment. During this research appointment, children will complete a 60-minute MRI scan and computer-based activities that assess cognitive skills, reward-based decision-making, and frustration tolerance. At the end of the research appointment, children will return the device to our research team. Parents may delete the questionnaire application from their phone at the end of the research appointment.

Participation will also require parents/legal guardians to complete questionnaires about their child. Questionnaires will be provided to the primary caregiver by email or at the beginning of their child's first research appointment. Parents agree to complete and return the questionnaires within one month of their child's research appointment.

Parents may be provided with additional questionnaires to give to their child's primary schoolteacher. This information is collected to better understand children's abilities, behavior, strengths, and weaknesses.

There are minimal risks associated with this study. Risks include fatigue, boredom, and mild discomfort.

There is no cost to participating in this study.

There is no direct benefit to participants for participating in this study.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Sleep Physical Activity

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Group

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Delay discounting task

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants make decisions between smaller, immediate rewards and larger, delayed rewards. The amount of the immediate reward and delay time are manipulated to identify individual delay discounting curves, or how the reward value decreases as a function of delay.

Mirror Tracing Persistence Task

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A computerized test in which participants trace a star line drawing with a computer cursor using a trackpad with reversed directional controls. There are increasing levels of difficulty with participants being told they could quit the task during the very hard third star that they try to trace.

Spatial Span

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants are instructed to attend to a computer screen to keep track of the order in which a happy face stimuli appears in a sequence of boxes positioned on the screen. They are presented with 2 trials at each level of difficulty, increasing from 2 stimuli by 1 additional stimuli per trial until they respond incorrectly for both trials within a level. There are two task conditions, forward and backward span, with the participant responding in the reverse order that the stimuli were presented for backward span.

Stop Signal Task

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A computerized test in which participants are presented with a right or left facing arrow and are instructed to press a response button indicating the direction of the arrow. On 25% of the trials, an auditory beep is presented (i.e., stop signal) following the onset of the arrow (i.e., go signal) and participants are instructed to withhold their response when they hear the stop signal.

Flanker task

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A computerized test in which a group of arrows are presented on the screen with the central arrow (target) pointing in the same/opposite direction as the 4 surrounding arrows (flankers). Participants are instructed to respond as quickly and accurately as possible to the central target arrow.

Go/No-Go Task

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A computerized test in which participants are presented with red and green spaceship stimuli. They are told to press the spacebar in response to green spaceships (80% of trials) and withhold their response to red spaceships (20% of trials).

Interventions

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Delay discounting task

Participants make decisions between smaller, immediate rewards and larger, delayed rewards. The amount of the immediate reward and delay time are manipulated to identify individual delay discounting curves, or how the reward value decreases as a function of delay.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Mirror Tracing Persistence Task

A computerized test in which participants trace a star line drawing with a computer cursor using a trackpad with reversed directional controls. There are increasing levels of difficulty with participants being told they could quit the task during the very hard third star that they try to trace.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Spatial Span

Participants are instructed to attend to a computer screen to keep track of the order in which a happy face stimuli appears in a sequence of boxes positioned on the screen. They are presented with 2 trials at each level of difficulty, increasing from 2 stimuli by 1 additional stimuli per trial until they respond incorrectly for both trials within a level. There are two task conditions, forward and backward span, with the participant responding in the reverse order that the stimuli were presented for backward span.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Stop Signal Task

A computerized test in which participants are presented with a right or left facing arrow and are instructed to press a response button indicating the direction of the arrow. On 25% of the trials, an auditory beep is presented (i.e., stop signal) following the onset of the arrow (i.e., go signal) and participants are instructed to withhold their response when they hear the stop signal.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Flanker task

A computerized test in which a group of arrows are presented on the screen with the central arrow (target) pointing in the same/opposite direction as the 4 surrounding arrows (flankers). Participants are instructed to respond as quickly and accurately as possible to the central target arrow.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Go/No-Go Task

A computerized test in which participants are presented with red and green spaceship stimuli. They are told to press the spacebar in response to green spaceships (80% of trials) and withhold their response to red spaceships (20% of trials).

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Exclusion Criteria

Prematurity Prenatal exposure to alcohol or other substances Traumatic brain injury Co-occurring neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability) Anxiety/mood disorders Active psychosis Bipolar disorder Conduct disorder Currently taking longer acting psychotropic medications that cannot be discontinued the day before research appointments

Control Group. Does not meet criteria for psychological or neuropsychological disorders Does not meet criteria for intellectual disability Does not meet criteria for a learning disorder


Prematurity Prenatal exposure to alcohol or other substances Traumatic brain injury Currently taking medications that cannot be discontinued the day before research appointments
Minimum Eligible Age

8 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

12 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc.

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Keri Rosch

Clinical Psychologist/Associate Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Kennedy Krieger Institute

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Keri S Rosch, PhD in Clinical Psychology

Role: CONTACT

443-923-9465

Alyssa C DeRonda, MS in Experimental Psychology

Role: CONTACT

443-923-9258

Facility Contacts

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Christine Collins

Role: primary

667-205-4226

Research Coordinator

Role: primary

443-923-9258

References

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Sibley MH, Arnold LE, Swanson JM, Hechtman LT, Kennedy TM, Owens E, Molina BSG, Jensen PS, Hinshaw SP, Roy A, Chronis-Tuscano A, Newcorn JH, Rohde LA; MTA Cooperative Group. Variable Patterns of Remission From ADHD in the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD. Am J Psychiatry. 2022 Feb;179(2):142-151. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.21010032. Epub 2021 Aug 13.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 34384227 (View on PubMed)

Mordre M, Groholt B, Kjelsberg E, Sandstad B, Myhre AM. The impact of ADHD and conduct disorder in childhood on adult delinquency: a 30 years follow-up study using official crime records. BMC Psychiatry. 2011 Apr 11;11:57. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-11-57.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21481227 (View on PubMed)

Fredriksen M, Dahl AA, Martinsen EW, Klungsoyr O, Faraone SV, Peleikis DE. Childhood and persistent ADHD symptoms associated with educational failure and long-term occupational disability in adult ADHD. Atten Defic Hyperact Disord. 2014 Jun;6(2):87-99. doi: 10.1007/s12402-014-0126-1. Epub 2014 Feb 5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 24497125 (View on PubMed)

Faraone SV, Banaschewski T, Coghill D, Zheng Y, Biederman J, Bellgrove MA, Newcorn JH, Gignac M, Al Saud NM, Manor I, Rohde LA, Yang L, Cortese S, Almagor D, Stein MA, Albatti TH, Aljoudi HF, Alqahtani MMJ, Asherson P, Atwoli L, Bolte S, Buitelaar JK, Crunelle CL, Daley D, Dalsgaard S, Dopfner M, Espinet S, Fitzgerald M, Franke B, Gerlach M, Haavik J, Hartman CA, Hartung CM, Hinshaw SP, Hoekstra PJ, Hollis C, Kollins SH, Sandra Kooij JJ, Kuntsi J, Larsson H, Li T, Liu J, Merzon E, Mattingly G, Mattos P, McCarthy S, Mikami AY, Molina BSG, Nigg JT, Purper-Ouakil D, Omigbodun OO, Polanczyk GV, Pollak Y, Poulton AS, Rajkumar RP, Reding A, Reif A, Rubia K, Rucklidge J, Romanos M, Ramos-Quiroga JA, Schellekens A, Scheres A, Schoeman R, Schweitzer JB, Shah H, Solanto MV, Sonuga-Barke E, Soutullo C, Steinhausen HC, Swanson JM, Thapar A, Tripp G, van de Glind G, van den Brink W, Van der Oord S, Venter A, Vitiello B, Walitza S, Wang Y. The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement: 208 Evidence-based conclusions about the disorder. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2021 Sep;128:789-818. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.022. Epub 2021 Feb 4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33549739 (View on PubMed)

Hvolby A. Associations of sleep disturbance with ADHD: implications for treatment. Atten Defic Hyperact Disord. 2015 Mar;7(1):1-18. doi: 10.1007/s12402-014-0151-0. Epub 2014 Aug 17.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25127644 (View on PubMed)

Buitelaar J, Bolte S, Brandeis D, Caye A, Christmann N, Cortese S, Coghill D, Faraone SV, Franke B, Gleitz M, Greven CU, Kooij S, Leffa DT, Rommelse N, Newcorn JH, Polanczyk GV, Rohde LA, Simonoff E, Stein M, Vitiello B, Yazgan Y, Roesler M, Doepfner M, Banaschewski T. Toward Precision Medicine in ADHD. Front Behav Neurosci. 2022 Jul 6;16:900981. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.900981. eCollection 2022.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 35874653 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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IRB00478295

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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