It has recently been recognized that adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a valid disorder (Gadow & Weiss, 2001). Much less is known, however, about the assessment of ADHD, and about the functional impairments associated with ADHD, in adults compared to children. The objective of the present study was to characterize the functional impairments in DSM-IV diagnosed ADHD adults compared to community control adults and clinic-referred adults reporting symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and/or impulsivity who did not meet symptom thresholds for the disorder. Method. The sample for this study consisted of 120 adults: 47 adults with ADHD, 43 clinic-referred adults who did not meet criteria for ADHD, and 30 community control adults. All were assessed with a comprehensive battery assessing psychiatric, cognitive, school, and driving impairment. Results. ADHD adults showed significantly more impairment than community control adults on all outcome measures. ADHD adults had subtle cognitive deficits, and higher rates of lifetime conduct problems compared to clinic-comparison adults. ADHD adults did not differ reliably from clinic-comparison adults on measures of internalizing disorders, school problems, or driving impairment. Clinic-comparison adults showed significantly more impairment than community control adults on measures of psychiatric functioning and school impairment. Conclusions. DSM-IV diagnosed ADHD adults show a pattern of clinical features that mirrors well-documented findings among children with the disorder, and show significantly greater impairment than do community control adults. Adults meeting some, but not all, criteria for ADHD fall in between ADHD adults and community control adults, and may warrant treatment. Our results highlight the importance of assessing ADHD in adults in a manner that attends to the potential reduced sensitivity of the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for use in adult populations (Faraon
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.82905 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Krane, Erica A. |
| Contributors | Koestner, Richard (advisor), Hechtman, Lily (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001985247, proquestno: AAINQ88501, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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