| Author: | Yung, Wai Kit |
| Title: | The neuro-psycho-physiological deficits of children with sluggish cognitive tempo symptoms |
| Advisors: | Lai, Cynthia (RS) Chan, Chetwyn (RS) |
| Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Subject: | Attention-deficit-disordered children Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Pages: | 122 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Background: Children with Sluggish Cognitive Tempo are often reported to have symptoms such as day-dreaming, drowsiness and slowness to respond to the environment. Previous studies did not examine the underlying mechanism which may lead to the sustained attention deficits observed in people with SCT. It has been proposed that the hypo- or hyper-arousal maybe related to SCT symptoms and may possibly explain the sustained attention deficits in individuals with SCT. However, no previous study has been conducted to examine this hypothesis. It is also unclear how these neuropsychological and neurophysiological deficits may relate to the social difficulties exhibited by these children. Aim: This thesis aimed to investigate the neuro-psycho-physiological factors associated with SCT symptoms. Three studies were conducted in order to identify the nature of SCT. Study I aimed to examine the neurophysiological correlates of SCT symptoms. It is hypothesized that deficit arousal state and regulation would be associated with higher SCT symptoms. Study II aimed to identify the linkage between arousal regulation deficits and sustained attention difficulties in High SCT group. It is hypothesized that deficient arousal state and regulation would predict the severity of sustained attention deficits in High SCT group. Study III aimed to identify the role of attention deficits in social difficulties (social problems and withdrawn behaviour) in High SCT group. It is hypothesized that scores in the sustained attention measures would predict the severity of social problems and withdrawn behaviour in High SCT group. Methods: In the Study I, thirty children aged 6-12 years old were recruited and their heart rate variability (HRV) was measured in resting condition (reflecting their basal arousal state) and warning signal condition (reflecting their arousal regulation capacity). The association between the severity of SCT symptoms and HRV in both conditions were examined. In the Study II, eighty-eight children aged 6-13 were recruited (41 children with SCT and 47 children with typical development). Their physiological responses quantified by HRV and EEG in resting and warning signal conditions were recorded. Cued Continued Performance Test (CCPT) were also conducted in order to assess their sustained attention abilities. HRV and EEG measures were used to predict their performance of the CCPT in High SCT group and in Low SCT group. In the Study III, eighty-eight children aged 6-12 years were recruited (40 children in the High SCT group and 48 children in the Low SCT group). CCPT were conducted in both groups and their parents were asked to fill in the Child Behavioural Checklist (CBCL). CCPT measures were used to predict the scores of the Social Problems subscale and Withdrawn Behaviour subscale in the CBCL. Results: In the Study I, SD2 nu in the resting condition significantly predicted the SCT symptoms after controlling the ADHD symptoms. Specifically, higher SD2 nu (reflecting lower arousal) was found to be positively associated with higher SCT symptoms. SCT symptoms were also significantly predicted by the changes of SD2 nu and pNN50 between resting and warning signal condition. SCT symptoms were found to be positively associated with the change in SD2 nu between resting and warning signal conditions (reflecting hyperarousal during stimulation). There results supported the notion that SCT were related to arousal deficiencies. In the Study II, high theta power in warning signal condition than in resting condition was found to be associated with higher number of omission errors of the CCPT in the High SCT group. Higher SD1 nu in the warning signal condition than in resting condition was found to associated with higher commission errors of the CCPT in the High SCT group. These results reflect that sustained attention deficits in children with high SCT symptoms were related to hyper-sensitivity towards stressful auditory stimulus (such as those in the warning signal condition). In the Study III, number of omission errors of the CCPT significantly predicted the severity of the social problems and withdrawn behaviour in children with high SCT symptoms. This result supported the linkage between sustained attention deficits and social difficulties in SCT. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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