Overview
- Researchers reported that adults with more ADHD traits scored higher on measures of creative achievement and performance on divergent-thinking tasks.
- Across more than 750 participants from Europe and the U.K. (347 and 403 respectively), deliberate mind wandering was associated with greater creativity.
- Spontaneous mind wandering was linked to everyday functional impairments typical in ADHD rather than creative benefits.
- The team suggested psychoeducation and ADHD-tailored mindfulness as ways to reduce uncontrolled drifting or channel it into intentional thought.
- The presenters emphasized that the results are correlational conference data that require replication and publication before guiding treatment or education.