The Effect of Delayed Gratification on Children With ADHD

Children with ADHD usually have an especially hard time dealing with situations in which gratification is delayed. In "Taking Charge of ADHD," Dr. Russell Barkley explains that those who have ADHD think of things in terms of the immediate, rather than the future.

Frustration

• Perception of time is often altered in those with ADHD. Because of this, an ADHD child, when asked to wait before satisfying a desire, will become angry and frustrated. Even a short amount of time can feel like forever for them.

Impulsive Behavior

• Children with ADHD often exhibit impulsive behavior when they are trying to deal with a delayed gratification situation. Impulsive behaviors get the immediate results they crave, whether those results are positive or negative.

Conflict

• Being asked to wait for a reward can bring children with ADHD into conflicts with their peers and with adults. They may become hyper, focused on the delay, and act out their frustration on others.

Practicing Patience

• Children with ADHD can learn to better manage their behavior when asked to delay gratification. In this way, situations where gratification is delayed can have the effect of allowing them to practice sharing time and entertaining themselves.

Setting Goals

• As children with ADHD practice learning patience, they can go further in using such situations to improve themselves. Setting basic goals on their own allows these children to feel a sense of accomplishment and self-control.