Temporal Reward Discounting in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Systematic Review

Children with ADHD and ASD may present differences in the affective-motivational processes. We systematically review the literature regarding temporal discounting in children up to 12 years with ADHD and ASD. Six articles were included, five studies with ADHD children (n = 231), one with ASD children (n = 21), all including typically developing children as controls (n = 210). Five studies (four with ADHD and one with ASD) found greater temporal reward discounting for clinical groups. Occurrence of ADHD appears to rush even more the decision-making process at this stage of development, but there is still a lack in the literature, especially evaluating individuals with ASD.