Attention, Motivation, and Study Habits in Users of Unprescribed ADHD Medication.

OBJECTIVE Despite the limited effectiveness of ADHD medications on healthy cognition, prescription stimulants' cognitive enhancement use is increasing. This article examines enhancement users' attention, motivation, and study habits. METHOD A total of 61 users of unprescribed stimulants and 67 controls (no history of prescription stimulant use) completed tests of objectively measured and subjectively reported attention. Self-reports on study habits, as well as motivation during laboratory attention testing, were also administered. RESULTS Our data replicated previous findings of relatively lower self-reported attention functioning in users. Extending past research, we showed that user-control differences in attention were still present but less pronounced on objective measures than on self-report. In addition, we obtained evidence of lower motivation during cognitive testing and less optimal study habits among users, as compared with their non-using peers. CONCLUSION Unprescribed stimulant use is more strongly related to compromised study habits, low motivation, and a subjective perception of attention problems than to objective attention performance.