Mind Wandering in Adults with ADHD

Mind wandering is the experience of thoughts not remaining on a single topic for a long period. In mind wandering, attention and thoughts shift away from external sources and/or ongoing tasks to unrelated internal thoughts or feelings. It is a universal human experience, and two main types of mind wandering have been identified; first, self-generated internal thoughts that occur intentionally an deliberately (deliberate mind wandering), second, unintentional and/or spontaneous mind wandering (spontaneous mind wandering).　Excessive mind wandering has been associated with impairment in mental disorders such as ADHD. ADHD is a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Mental state in　ADHD includes ceaseless mental activity and thoughts　that are constantly on the go, or a mind constantly full of　thoughts. Such thoughts are experienced as uncontrolled, with　multiple occurring at the same time.　Therefore, excessive mind wandering may reflect a core difficulty in ADHD and a hypothesis that mind wandering is associated with a central feature of ADHD has been argued. In the present study, we investigated mind wandering in adults with ADHD using a Japanese sample. Subjects were 23 adults with ADHD according to the diagnosis of DSM-5. Mind wandering was evaluated using two rating scales: MWQ (Mind wandering questionnaire) and MEWS (Mind excessively wondering scale). Elevated scores of the two scaled were found in the subjects and the scores of the two scales was correlated significantly.