EPA-0497 – Comorbidity of Adhd and Personality Disorders in Adult Out-patients

Abstract

Introduction:

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder that persists into adulthood. Though symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity are the two core symptom sets of the disorder, recent reviews argue that emotional dysregulation is an additional feature of ADHD criteria. In the DSM-5 emotional dysregulation does not appear. In a study by the Mental Health Center (MHC) of Arganda, 42 outpatients, all older than 18, we'll look for:

Objectives:

1. ○ Examine the comorbidity of ADHD, in relation to Axis I and personality disorder (PD) from the DSM-IV. In addition, to see if emotional dysregulation is present in these patients.

Aims:

1. ○ The proposal is that there exist comorbidity with PD, in addition to emotional dysregulation symptoms.

Methods:

1. ○ Transversal descriptive study of out-patients.

2. ○ A diagnosis of ADHD with: ASRS-V1.1, the ADHD, the CAADID and the WURS scale, reduced version.

3. ○ Emotion dysregulation was assessed by the Impulsivity/Emotional Lability scale from the CAARS and by the DERS and PD with the SCID-II questionary.

Results:

A high comorbidity is observed with PD and depressive symptoms. The combined type of ADHD is the most frequently found, with higher severity and frequency of PD. The association with depressive symptoms is more often found in the inattentive subtype and the combined type with substance abuse. Preliminary data is included on emotional dysregulation and ADHD.

Conclusions:

ADHD is a disease observed in out-patient adults with a high frequency of comorbidity with PD and depression.

It is necessary to look for the dimension of emotional dysregulation.