Affect Recognition in Adults With ADHD

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Meghan Miller, University of California Berkeley; Russell B. Hanford, Emory University; Catherine Fassbender, University of California Davis; Marshall Duke, Emory University; Julie B. Schweitzer, University of California Davis
• Language: English
• Date: 2011-08-01
• Publisher: SAGE Publications (UK and US)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2011 SAGE Publications
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1087054710368636
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Attention Disorders
• ISSN: 1087-0547
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: 452
• End Page: 460
• Keywords: Psychiatry; RIGHT-HEMISPHERE; BIPOLAR DISORDER; Social Sciences; CHILDREN; SOCIAL COGNITION; Science & Technology; EMOTIONAL FACIAL EXPRESSIONS; adults; ADOLESCENTS; emotion; ANXIETY DISORDERS; affect recognition; subtypes; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Psychology; ADHD; DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER; ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER; Psychology, Developmental; LEARNING-DISABILITIES
• Research Categories: Psychology, Developmental

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study compared affect recognition abilities between adults with and without ADHD. METHOD: The sample consisted of 51 participants (34 men, 17 women) divided into 3 groups: ADHD-combined type (ADHD-C; n = 17), ADHD-predominantly inattentive type (ADHD-I; n = 16), and controls (n = 18). The mean age was 34 years. Affect recognition abilities were assessed by the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy (DANVA). RESULTS: ANOVA showed that the ADHD-I group made more fearful emotion errors relative to the control group. Inattentive symptoms were positively correlated, whereas hyperactive-impulsive symptoms were negatively correlated with affect recognition errors. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that affect recognition abilities may be impaired in adults with ADHD and that affect recognition abilities are more adversely affected by inattentive than hyperactive-impulsive symptoms.