Avoidant Automatic Thoughts Are Associated With Task Avoidance and Inattention in the Moment: Replication in a Community Sample

Abstract

Purpose: Avoidant automatic thoughts (AAT) are thoughts that precede or accompany a delay in the starting or ending of a task. In a prior study of college students using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), AATs were frequent daily occurrences and participants with more severe ADHD symptoms at baseline reported more frequent AAT. Importantly, momentary presence of AAT was associated with greater task avoidance and inattentive symptoms. In the current study, we replicated and extended this study in a community sample of adults. Method: We measured AAT in the daily lives of 106 adults using EMA. Data were collected at baseline and up to five times per day for 6 days. Results: Using multilevel modeling, we found that baseline ADHD symptoms predicted more frequent AAT and more severe task avoidance and negative emotion in daily life. Recent presence of AAT was associated with inattention, task avoidance, and slightly elevated negative emotion in the moment. More severe baseline ADHD strengthened the relationship between AAT and both inattention and task avoidance. In exploratory analyses, we found that work tasks and household chores were the most avoided activities and that, instead, people were most likely to be doing other work tasks or engaging in screen time or self-care, respectively. Conclusions: This study replicates and extends our prior findings regarding AAT in daily life and their relationship to ADHD and supports continued research on this construct, which may have clinical utility for intervening in problematic avoidance behaviors.