Personality Profile of Children and Adolescents With ADHD and With or Without Emotional Dysregulation

Comparative Study of the Personality Profile of Children and Adolescents With Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) With or Without Emotional Dysregulation

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.

Inclusion criteria:

• Children and adolescents aged 7-12 years followed at Montpellier University Hospital ;
• Children and adolescents with a diagnostic of ADHD (diagnostics criteria from DSM-V);
• Children and adolescents benefiting from a multidisciplinary evaluation or therapeutic group at the child psychiatry unit of Montpellier University Hospital

Exclusion criteria:

- Family non-french speaking