# Biobehavioral validation of the ADHD emotion dysregulation phenotype

> **NIH NIH R01** · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $708,242

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Emotion dysregulation is recognized as an integral but insufficiently characterized influence in child
psychopathology. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is emblematic because wide variation in both
cognition and emotion dysregulation exist and are related to impairment. Consensus is emerging that effective
measurement of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying cognitive and emotional features of ADHD is
essential for improvement of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, but these efforts are
hampered by within-group heterogeneity. Thus, understanding ADHD mechanistically will require integrating
cognitive and emotional accounts of the disorder. A central puzzle concerns the joint disruption of cognition
and emotion— frequently observed but poorly explained mechanistically. Two fundamental questions are
addressed here: what mechanisms drive emotion dysregulation in ADHD and how can variation in emotional
features be incorporated into existing nosology? The current proposal builds on prior work that suggests three
temperament-based emotional profiles in children with ADHD: 1) an emotionally-normative, “Mild” profile, 2) a
positive dysregulation, “Surgent” profile, and 3) a negative dysregulation, “Irritable” profile. Here, that
descriptive work is carried forward the next step into mechanistic and confirmatory study to advance the
nosology and explanation of ADHD.
 Using a cross sectional, case-control design in 7-10 year-old children, Aim 1 validates and refines the
proposed emotion-based phenotypes by examining their association with in vivo emotional experience using
ecological momentary assessments. This is combined in Aim 2 with an experimental approach to identify
reactive and regulatory mechanisms contributing to individual differences in emotion dysregulation in ADHD.
Here, sequential sampling models are combined with time-locked measures of central and peripheral nervous
system functioning adding novelty. Two types of low-cost, clinically-translatable measures are emphasized:
eye-tracking/pupillometry and electroencephalogram-measured event-related potentials (ERPs). Finally, Aim 3
identifies biobehavioral correlates of emotion-related impairment that are directly relevant to development of
novel treatments. The theoretically-driven, multi-level approach that is used directly addresses RDoC goals
related to multi-method integration and defining mechanisms of complex behavior.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10558462
- **Project number:** 5R01MH120109-05
- **Recipient organization:** PURDUE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah Lyn Karalunas
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $708,242
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-17 → 2026-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10558462

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10558462, Biobehavioral validation of the ADHD emotion dysregulation phenotype (5R01MH120109-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10558462. Licensed CC0.

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