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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Attention Deficit Disorder; Emotional Dysfunction
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Evaluation of the CBCL-A-A-A and HiPIC in children with ADHD and with ED or without ED

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 70

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Montpellier, France, 34295
    • Uhmontpellier

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 7 years to 12 years (CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• 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.

Description

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

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

3

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Control group; ADHD without emotion dysregulation (Control group) The group is composed of children with ADHD and with a score ≤ 180 at the CBCL-A-A-A when combining the "Aggressive behaviors", "Anxiety/Depression" and "Attention" subscales.	Other: Evaluation of the CBCL-A-A-A and HiPIC in children with ADHD and with ED or without ED; 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.
Deficit Emotion Self Regulation group; ADHD without moderate emotion dysregulation (Deficit Emotion Self Regulation group) The group is composed of children with ADHD and with a score ≥180 and ≤ 210 at the CBCL-A-A-A when combining the "Aggressive behaviors", "Anxiety/Depression" and "Attention" subscales.	Other: Evaluation of the CBCL-A-A-A and HiPIC in children with ADHD and with ED or without ED; 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.
Dysregulation Profile Group; ADHD with severe emotion dysregulation (Dysregulation Profile Group) The group is composed of children with ADHD and with a score ≥ 210 at the CBCL-A-A-A when combining the "Aggressive behaviors", "Anxiety/Depression" and "Attention" subscales.	Other: Evaluation of the CBCL-A-A-A and HiPIC in children with ADHD and with ED or without ED; 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.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rate of Score at the CBCL-A-A-A	Score at the CBCL-A-A-A when combining the "Aggressive behaviors", "Anxiety/Depression" and "Attention" subscales (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). Questionnaire measures emotional and behavior problem in 4 to 18 year-old children in the past months.	1 day

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rate of Score of Hierachical Personality Inventory for Childen	Score of Hierachical Personality Inventory for Childen (HiPIC, Mervielde & De Fruyt, 1999), 144-item questionnaire to obtain a profile of the personality Questionnaire obtains a profile of personality of 6 to 12 year-old children.	1 day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Montpellier
• Investigators: Study Director: Romo, PHD, University Paris Nanterre

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): September 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): September 30, 2021
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): December 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 18, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 18, 2021
• First Posted (ACTUAL): October 27, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): April 14, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 13, 2022
• Last Verified: April 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Children; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Personality traits; Emotion dysregulation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity
• Other Study ID Numbers: RECHMPL20_0524

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: NC

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No