Kari Benson

Although previous research suggests that undergraduates with untreated or undertreated attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms may have academic motives for stimulant medication misuse, no previous work has examined the relation of ADHD symptoms, controlling for comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), to misuse, or has explored how these symptoms are differentially related to motives for misuse. Among a sample of 900 students from one public university, the current study first tested whether increased ADHD symptomology (using the Current Symptoms Scale, CSS) was associated with an increased likelihood of misusing stimulant medication, controlling for comorbid ODD. We then examined whether those with increased ADHD symptomology were more likely to report academic motives for misuse. The prevalence rate of misuse in the past year was 22%. Participants who met symptom count criteria for ADHD (controlling for comorbid ODD) were 2.90 times more likely to misuse stimulant medication than those who did not. Among misusers, those who met ADHD criteria were also 2.80 times more likely to report academic motives for misuse. These results support that stimulant medication misuse is likely driven, in part, by inadequate or absent care for the executive functioning impairments associated with ADHD. Therefore, a greater focus on assessment and treatment of college students with ADHD symptoms is warranted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Animals are commonly categorized as diurnal, nocturnal, or crepuscular depending on the times of day when they are most active. These categories, although convenient, would be more useful if we knew more about how closely animal activity conformed to the labels. Similarly, if we knew more about the degree of nocturnality or diurnality of a particular species, we would have increased understanding of the selective forces acting on it. To clarify the intensity of nocturnality or diurnality in lycosoid spiders, we measured activity in 46 spiders divided among three congeneric species of fishing spiders (Pisauridae) and five species of wolf spiders (Lycosidae), in an austere laboratory setting. Overall, the three pisaurid species, pooled, were less than half as active as the five lycosid species, also pooled. All three species of fishing spiders and four of the five species of wolf spiders were strongly nocturnal in their activity. Only one species, the wolf spider Piratula minuta (Emerton 1885), was diurnal. None of the individual spiders that showed statistically significant nocturnal or diurnal activity (31 of 31 lycosids, 14 of 15 pisaurids) was purely nocturnal or diurnal. In all individual cases except for a single ambivalent Dolomedes tenebrosus Hentz 1844 (Pisauridae), statistically strong nocturnality was accompanied by substantial activity during the light hours, and statistically strong diurnality was accompanied by substantial activity during the dark hours. We discuss the overall low variability in activity patterns among the fishing spiders in comparison to the much higher variability among the activity patterns of the wolf spiders, the common but not ubiquitous presence of ultradian periodicities in individual spiders, and the significance of the fact that none of the individual spiders was strictly nocturnal or strictly diurnal.

BACKGROUND: The misuse of stimulant medications, commonly used for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is a concern on college campuses. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to examine the relations between the misuse of stimulant medications and symptoms of depression and ADHD. METHOD: Eight hundred and ninety students ages 18-26 from one public university took a web-based survey including rating scales measuring symptoms of depression and ADHD. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of misuse in the past year was 23%. Symptoms of depression were significantly related to misuse; however, once symptoms of ADHD were included in the analysis, depression was no longer a significant predictor. Further, there was not a significant interaction between ADHD and depression, but symptoms of ADHD were significantly related to misuse. Conclusions/Importance: Results suggest that attention difficulties may be one of the most important factors in predicting stimulant medication misuse. Therefore, prevention efforts to reduce the misuse of stimulant medication would be most successful when targeting students with symptoms of inattention.