31 August 2025 to 3 September 2025
Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20-22, 48143 Münster
Europe/Berlin timezone

Who Can Wait? Differences in Academic Delay of Gratification and Executive Function in Neurodivergent and Neurotypical psychology students

1 Sept 2025, 13:45
22m
Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20-22, 48143 Münster

Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20-22, 48143 Münster

Individual Oral Presentation Parallel Session 1

Speaker

Patrick O'Connor (Queen's University Belfast)

Description

Academic Delay of Gratification (ADOG) is essential for academic success, but its effectiveness among neurodivergent students compared to neurotypical peers remains underexplored. This study examined 82 first-year psychology students in the UK, comparing 41 neurodivergent individuals with 41 neurotypical peers, matched by age, gender, socioeconomic status, and anxiety. Participants completed assessments of ADOG and executive functions (EFs): inhibition, emotional regulation, and planning/organisation. Contrary to expectations, neurodivergent students demonstrated stronger ADOG abilities than their neurotypical counterparts. Furthermore, group membership was the only significant predictor of ADOG performance, even when executive functioning skills were considered. These findings suggest that lower academic achievement among neurodivergent students cannot be attributed solely to difficulties in delaying immediate gratification for future academic goals.

Is the first author also the speaker? Yes
Please indicate up to five keywords regarding the content of your contribution academic delay of gratification; neurodivergent; executive function; academic achievement; Psychology

Primary author

Patrick O'Connor (Queen's University Belfast)

Co-authors

Amy Breen (Queen's University Belfast) Amy Magee (Queen's University Belfast) Kendra Sneddon (Queen's University Belfast) Ruth Garrett (Queen's University Belfast)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.