Neuropsychological Weaknesses in Adult ADHD; Cognitive Functions as Core Deficit and Roles of Them in Persistence to Adulthood (original) (raw)
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European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2015
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in childhood is associated with impaired functioning in multiple cognitive domains: executive functioning (EF), reward and timing. Similar impairments have been described for adults with persistent ADHD, but an extensive investigation of neuropsychological functioning in a large sample of adult patients is currently lacking. We systematically examined neuropsychological performance on tasks measuring EF, delay discounting, time estimation and response variability using univariate ANCOVA's comparing patients with persistent ADHD (N =133, 42% male, mean age 36) and healthy adults (N= 132, 40% male, mean age 36). In addition, we tested which combination of variables provided the highest accuracy in predicting ADHD diagnosis. We also estimated for each individual the severity of neuropsychological dysfunctioning. Lastly, we investigated potential effects of stimulant medication and a history of comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD) on performance. Compared to healthy adults, patients with ADHD showed impaired EF, were more www.elsevier.com/locate/euroneuro http://dx.Please cite this article as: Mostert, J.C., et al., Cognitive heterogeneity in adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic analysis of neuropsychological.... European Neuropsychopharmacology (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.08.010
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2008
Background-This study examined neuropsychological functioning in a longitudinal sample of adolescents/young adults with ADHD and controls as a function of the persistence of ADHD. We hypothesized that measures of executive processes would parallel adolescent clinical status, with ADHD-Persisters, but not Remitters, differing significantly from Controls. In contrast, Persisters and Remitters were hypothesized to perform similarly, and different from Controls, on tasks requiring less effortful processing.
Neuropsychological function in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Biological Psychiatry, 1998
Although most current knowledge about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) developed from clinical observations and research with children, understanding of the disorder in adults is growing rapidly. It is being discovered that adults and children with ADHD share similar clinical features, comorbidities, and failures in major life domains (eg, academics and work) [1-4], and possibly brain abnormalities (see article by Seidman et al in this issue). It has become clear that to gain a full understanding of ADHD, the disorder must be studied from a life span perspective, integrating what is known about how it affects both adults and children .
Characteristic neurocognitive profile associated with adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Psychological Medicine, 2004
Background. It is now accepted that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often persists into adulthood. However, relative to the considerable literature concerning the profile of neurocognitive deficits associated with this disorder in childhood, equivalent investigations in adult populations have been less common. The current study examined cognitive function in adults diagnosed with ADHD employing well-validated neuropsychological tasks.Method. Nineteen adult patients who satisfied DSM-IV criteria for ADHD and 19 matched (gender, age and verbal IQ), non-clinical control subjects were recruited. Patients were either unmedicated or had abstained from a psychostimulant medication regime for at least 24 h prior to neurocognitive assessment. A functionally wide-ranging test battery was administered.Results. Relative to controls, ADHD adults performed significantly worse on spatial working memory, planning, and attentional-set shifting tests and were significantly slower to r...
Persistence and remission of ADHD during adulthood: a 7-year clinical follow-up study
Psychological medicine, 2015
Course and predictors of persistence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults are still largely unknown. Neurobiological and clinical differences between child and adult ADHD raise the need for follow-up studies of patients diagnosed during adulthood. This study investigates predictors of ADHD persistence and the possibility of full remission 7 years after baseline assessment. A 7-year follow-up study of adults with ADHD (n = 344, mean age 34.1 years, 49.9% males) was conducted. Variables from different domains (social demographics, co-morbidities, temperament, medication status, ADHD measures) were explored with the aim of finding potential predictors of ADHD persistence. Retention rate was 66% (n = 227). Approximately a third of the sample (n = 70, 30.2%) did not maintain ADHD criteria and 28 (12.4%) presented full remission (<4 symptoms), independently of changes in co-morbidity or cognitive demand profiles. Baseline predictors of diagnostic persistence wer...
Frontiers in Psychology
BackgroundAdults with ADHD exhibit a neuropsychological profile that may present deficits in many cognitive domains, particularly attention and executive functions (EFs). However, some authors do not consider executive disfunction as an important part of the clinical profile of the syndrome; this could be related to the use of inappropriate neuropsychological tests, probably not adapted and not sufficiently ecological. Moreover, new data are required on specific correlation of attentive-executive symptoms with socio-demographic factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the neuropsychological performance of a group of adults with ADHD, also evaluating the influence of gender, age and education level.MethodsWe retrospectively collected health-related personal data of 40 adult ADHD patients, clinically diagnosed and evaluated via a battery of 4 neuropsychological tests and 1 self-administered questionnaire. Gender, age and years of education differences were assessed.Resu...
Characteristics of ADHD in the Emerging Adult: an Overview
Psychological Injury and Law, 2017
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder that persists into adulthood for many individuals. Research on the disorder, however, has largely focused on childhood or on adulthood but spanning a very broad age range. Emerging adulthood, conceptualized as the period between 18 and 29 years of age, has been identified as a distinct developmental stage. To date, there is relatively little research focused specifically on ADHD in that period of life. In the present paper, we provide an overview of the characteristics of ADHD in emerging adults. The prevalence of ADHD in this stage of life appears to be slightly higher than typically found in studies with adult samples of broader age range. ADHD in emerging adults is associated with a variety of negative outcomes such as poorer academic and occupational functioning, psychiatric comorbidities, alcohol and substance use, as well as stimulant misuse. Studies using neuropsychological tests have generally reported average to high average intellectual functioning, variable performance on measures of attention, and generally intact scores on most measures of executive functions. In contrast, a small number of studies indicate the presence of subjective executive dysfunction. Methodological limitations that likely contribute to heterogeneity in the literature are discussed.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1997
Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is known to have neuropsychological consequences that are evident from psychological tests and measures of school failure. However, most available data are based on studies of preadolescent children. For a developmental perspective, older (> or = 15 years) and younger (< 15 years) children with ADHD were assessed. Participants were 118 male participants, ages 9 to 22 years, with ADHD and 99 male controls. Younger and older probands with ADHD were significantly impaired on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the Stroop test, and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, regardless of various psychiatric and cognitive comorbidities. Longitudinal research is needed to test the hypothesis that neuropsychological dysfunctions persist in ADHD into adulthood.