Personality Profile of Children and Adolescents With ADHD and With or Without Emotional Dysregulation
Condition: Attention Deficit Disorder; Emotional Dysfunction
MeSH terms: Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is frequently associated with emotional
      dysregulation (ED). ED is characterized by excessive and inappropriate emotional reactions
      compared to social norms, uncontrolled and rapide shifts in emotion and attention focused on
      emotional stimuli.

      According to research, there are strong correlations between personality traits and
      psychiatric disorder as ADHD. In a longitudinal study, the persistence of ADHD symptoms
      during adolescence is associated with high neuroticism, low agreeableness and low conscience.
      Studies show that these personality traits are factors of vulnerabilities for comordities
      associated with ADHD and are predictive of overall functioning difficulties. Studies show
      correlations between ADHD in childhood and personality disorders at adulthood .

      ADHD is frequently associated with emotional dysregulation (ED) that is characterized by an
      inability to modulate emotional responses in a given context . ED is observed in 24% to 50%
      children with ADHD . Children with ADHD and ED are more likely to present a severe and
      complex symptomatology and are at risk for antisocial and bordeline personality disorders
      than children without ED. To date, there would be no studies which would have been interested
      in personality traits in children with ADHD and ED.

      The main objective is to determine if children with ADHD and ED present from childhood traits
      of personality as low agreeableness, low conscience and high neuroticism that are predictive
      of personality disorders at adulthood. It would involve earl identification of children at
      increased risk of pejorative developmental trajectories.

      The second objectives are:

        -  Improve understanding of the heterogeneity of ADHD symptom expression;

        -  Have a better understanding of the child's personalit and temperament traits to identify
           riks and protective factors;

        -  Identify children with ADHD with profiles at risk of personality disorders in order to
           adapt the care according to the child's needs.
    


Intervention name(s): Evaluation of the CBCL-A-A-A and HiPIC in children with ADHD and with ED or without ED
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): The intervention involves the completion of two questionnaires by parents at child psychiatry unit of Montpellier University Hospital when children come to participate in a psychometric assessment or when parents or children participate in therapeutic group.
All parents completed Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001), a 118-item questionnaire to measure emotional and behavior problems in 4 to 18-years-old children in the past six months and Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC, Mervielde & De Fruyt, 1999, a 144-item questionnaire to obtain a profile of the personality of 6 to 12-year-old children.
Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Retrospective
Sampling method: Probability Sample
Study population: 
        -  Children with a diagnostic of ADHD and followed at Montpellier University Hospital.

          -  Children and adolescents aged between 7 and 12 years.
      
Biospecimen description: 
      NC
    
Keywords: Personality traits; Children; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Emotion dysregulation