Dysfunctional Personality Traits in Adolescence: Effects on Alerting, Orienting and Executive Control of Attention

Overview

Journal Cogn Process

Specialty Psychology

Date 2017 Mar 13

PMID 28285372

Citations 7

Authors

Maria Casagrande

Andrea Marotta

Valeria Canepone

Alfredo Spagna

Caterina Rosa

Giancarlo Dimaggio

Augusto Pasini

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The present study examined attentional networks performance in 39 adolescents with dysfunctional personality traits, split into two group, Group < 10 and Group ≥ 10, according to the number of criteria they met at the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders. The attentional performance has been tested by means of a modified version of the Attentional Network Test (ANTI-V) which allows testing both phasic and tonic components of the alerting system, the exogenous aspect of the orienting system, the executive network and their interactions. Results showed that the orienting costs of having an invalid spatial cue were reduced in the Group ≥ 10 criteria compared to the Group < 10. Moreover, adolescents included in the Group ≥ 10 showed lower conflict when attention was cued to the target location (valid trials) but showed normal interference when there was no overpowering focus of attention (invalid trials). The results found with ANOVA after splitting the sample into two categorical groups were also observed in a complementary correlation analysis keeping intact the continuous nature of such variables. These findings are consistent with the notion that dysfunctional features of personality disorders may represent the psychological manifestations of a neuropsychological abnormality in attention and executive functioning. Finally, we discuss the implications of this attentional anomaly for dysfunctional personality traits and behaviour.

Citing Articles

Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on visuospatial attention in air traffic controllers.

da Costa Leal L, da Penha Sobral A, Sobral M, Nogueira R Exp Brain Res. 2022; 240(9):2481-2490.

PMID: 35972521 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-022-06431-6.

Assessing the three attentional networks in children from three to six years: A child-friendly version of the Attentional Network Test for Interaction.

Casagrande M, Marotta A, Martella D, Volpari E, Agostini F, Favieri F Behav Res Methods. 2021; 54(3):1403-1415.

PMID: 34595673 PMC: 9170641. DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01668-5.

Casagrande M, Agostini F, Favieri F, Forte G, Giovannoli J, Guarino A Brain Sci. 2021; 11(9).

PMID: 34573137 PMC: 8467709. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11091115.

Assessing the Three Attentional Networks and Vigilance in the Adolescence Stages.

Giovannoli J, Martella D, Casagrande M Brain Sci. 2021; 11(4).

PMID: 33923437 PMC: 8073862. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11040503.

Effects of Blood Pressure on Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review.

Forte G, De Pascalis V, Favieri F, Casagrande M J Clin Med. 2019; 9(1).

PMID: 31877865 PMC: 7019226. DOI: 10.3390/jcm9010034.

References

Tyrer P, Johnson T . Establishing the severity of personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 1996; 153(12):1593-7. DOI: 10.1176/ajp.153.12.1593. View

Zeier J, Maxwell J, Newman J . Attention moderates the processing of inhibitory information in primary psychopathy. J Abnorm Psychol. 2009; 118(3):554-63. PMC: 2729538. DOI: 10.1037/a0016480. View

Spagna A, Martella D, Sebastiani M, Maccari L, Marotta A, Casagrande M . Efficiency and interactions of alerting, orienting and executive networks: the impact of imperative stimulus type. Acta Psychol (Amst). 2014; 148:209-15. DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2014.02.007. View

Fair D, Bathula D, Nikolas M, Nigg J . Distinct neuropsychological subgroups in typically developing youth inform heterogeneity in children with ADHD. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012; 109(17):6769-74. PMC: 3340031. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1115365109. View

Casagrande M, Martella D, Ruggiero M, Maccari L, Paloscia C, Rosa C . Assessing attentional systems in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2011; 27(1):30-44. DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acr085. View

Carcione A, Nicolo G, Pedone R, Popolo R, Conti L, Fiore D . Metacognitive mastery dysfunctions in personality disorder psychotherapy. Psychiatry Res. 2011; 190(1):60-71. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2010.12.032. View

Shiner R . The development of personality disorders: perspectives from normal personality development in childhood and adolescence. Dev Psychopathol. 2009; 21(3):715-34. DOI: 10.1017/S0954579409000406. View

Wan L, Crawford H, Boutros N . P50 sensory gating: impact of high vs. low schizotypal personality and smoking status. Int J Psychophysiol. 2005; 60(1):1-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2005.03.024. View

Johnson K, Robertson I, Barry E, Mulligan A, Daibhis A, Daly M . Impaired conflict resolution and alerting in children with ADHD: evidence from the Attention Network Task (ANT). J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2009; 49(12):1339-47. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01936.x. View

10.

Callejas A, Lupianez J, Tudela P . The three attentional networks: on their independence and interactions. Brain Cogn. 2004; 54(3):225-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2004.02.012. View

11.

Hall R . Global assessment of functioning. A modified scale. Psychosomatics. 1995; 36(3):267-75. DOI: 10.1016/S0033-3182(95)71666-8. View

12.

Raine A, SHEARD C, Reynolds G, Lencz T . Pre-frontal structural and functional deficits associated with individual differences in schizotypal personality. Schizophr Res. 1992; 7(3):237-47. DOI: 10.1016/0920-9964(92)90018-z. View

13.

Feenstra D, Busschbach J, Verheul R, Hutsebaut J . Prevalence and comorbidity of axis I and axis II disorders among treatment refractory adolescents admitted for specialized psychotherapy. J Pers Disord. 2012; 25(6):842-50. DOI: 10.1521/pedi.2011.25.6.842. View

14.

Schug R, Raine A, Wilcox R . Psychophysiological and behavioural characteristics of individuals comorbid for antisocial personality disorder and schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorder. Br J Psychiatry. 2007; 191:408-14. DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.106.034801. View

15.

Posner M, Rothbart M, Vizueta N, Levy K, Evans D, Thomas K . Attentional mechanisms of borderline personality disorder. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002; 99(25):16366-70. PMC: 138617. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.252644699. View

16.

Morgan A, Lilienfeld S . A meta-analytic review of the relation between antisocial behavior and neuropsychological measures of executive function. Clin Psychol Rev. 2000; 20(1):113-36. DOI: 10.1016/s0272-7358(98)00096-8. View

17.

Coolidge F, Thede L, Jang K . Are personality disorders psychological manifestations of executive function deficits? Bivariate heritability evidence from a twin study. Behav Genet. 2004; 34(1):75-84. DOI: 10.1023/B:BEGE.0000009486.97375.53. View

18.

Wan L, Friedman B, Boutros N, Crawford H . P50 sensory gating and attentional performance. Int J Psychophysiol. 2007; 67(2):91-100. PMC: 2292346. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2007.10.008. View

19.

Jang K, Livesley W, Vernon P, Jackson D . Heritability of personality disorder traits: a twin study. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1996; 94(6):438-44. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1996.tb09887.x. View

20.

Patterson C, Newman J . Reflectivity and learning from aversive events: toward a psychological mechanism for the syndromes of disinhibition. Psychol Rev. 1993; 100(4):716-36. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295x.100.4.716. View