scholarly journals Declining Trajectories of Co-occurring Psychopathology Symptoms in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A 10-Year Longitudinal Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stian Orm ◽  
Merete Glenne Øie ◽  
Ingrid Nesdal Fossum ◽  
Per Normann Andersen ◽  
Erik Winther Skogli

Objective: Our objective was to examine developmental trajectories of co-occurring psychopathology symptoms from childhood to young adulthood in individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and typically developing (TD) individuals.Method: We assessed co-occurring psychopathology symptoms in 61 individuals with ADHD, 26 with ASD, and 40 TD individuals at baseline (T1; Mage = 11.72, 64% boys), 2-year follow up (T2; Mage = 13.77), and 10-year follow up (T3; Mage = 21.35). We analyzed trajectories of internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and total problems with linear mixed models.Results: From T1 to T3, the ADHD group displayed a small decline in internalizing behaviors (d = −0.49) and large declines in externalizing behaviors (d = −0.78) and total problems (d = −0.71). The ASD group displayed large declines in internalizing behaviors (d = −0.79), externalizing behaviors (d = −0.80), and total problems (d = −0.89). From T1 to T2, the decline in externalizing behaviors and total problems were significantly smaller in the ADHD group compared with the ASD group. The ADHD and the ASD group displayed more co-occurring symptoms compared with the TD group at T3.Conclusion: Individuals with ADHD and ASD, respectively, displayed declines in co-occurring symptoms from childhood to young adulthood. Individuals with ASD displayed an earlier decline compared with individuals with ADHD. Compared with TD individuals, individuals with ADHD and ASD, respectively, continued to display elevated levels of co-occurring symptoms in young adulthood.

Author(s):  
Jan Schulz ◽  
Franziska Huber ◽  
Robert Schlack ◽  
Heike Hölling ◽  
Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer ◽  
...  

Background: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common behavioral disorders in childhood and adolescence associated with relevant psychosocial impairments. The basic pathophysiology of ADHD may be related, at least partly, to a deficit in autonomic arousal processes, which not only influence core symptoms of the disorder, but may also lead to blood pressure (BP) deviations due to altered arousal regulation. Objectives: This study examined long-term changes in BP in children and adolescents with ADHD up to young adulthood. Methods: In children and adolescents aged between 7 and 17 years at baseline, we compared BP recordings in subjects with (n = 1219, 11.1%) and without (n = 9741, 88.9%) ADHD over a 10-year follow-up using data from the nationwide German Health Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS). Propensity score matching was used to improve the comparability between children in the ADHD and control groups with now n = 1.190 in each group. Results: The results of these matched samples revealed that study participants with ADHD showed significantly lower systolic BP (107.6 ± 10.7 mmHg vs. 109.5 ± 10.9 mmHg, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.17) and diastolic BP (64.6 ± 7.5 mmHg vs. 65.8 ± 7.4 mmHg, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.16) at baseline. In a sensitivity analysis with a smaller (n = 272) and more stringently diagnosed ADHD group, the significant differences remained stable with somewhat higher Cohen’s d; i.e., 0.25 and 0.27, respectively. However, these differences did not persist after 10-year follow-up in a smaller matched longitudinal sub-group (ADHD n = 273; control n = 323), as subjects with and without ADHD had similar levels of systolic (123.4 ± 10.65 vs. 123.78 ± 11.1 mmHg, p = 0.675, Cohen’s d = 0.15) and diastolic BP (71.86 ± 6.84 vs. 71.85 ± 7.06 mmHg, p = 0.992, Cohen’s d = 0.16). Conclusions: At baseline, children and adolescents with ADHD had significantly lower BP (of small effect sizes) compared to the non-ADHD group, whereas this difference was no longer detectable at follow-up ten years later. These developmental alterations in BP from adolescence to early adulthood may reflect changes in the state of autonomic arousal, probably modulating the pathophysiology of ADHD.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artemios Pehlivanidis ◽  
Katerina Papanikolaou ◽  
Vasilios Mantas ◽  
Eva Kalantzi ◽  
Kalliopi Korobili ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Co-occurring psychiatric disorders in adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) contribute to the burden of the healthcare and possibly to the delay of diagnosis. Aim of the study was to clinically assess the prevalence and compare lifetime co-occurring psychopathology in a sample of newly diagnosed ADHD and/or ASD adults and discuss the diagnostic challenges they pose.Methods: The lifetime prevalence rates of ten of the most frequently co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses was registered in 336 adults of normal intelligence who underwent a thorough clinical evaluation for the diagnosis of ADHD and/or ASD for the first time in their lives. Four study groups were formed: the ADHD (n=151), the ASD (n=58), the ADHD+ASD (n=28) and the nonADHD/nonASD (NN) (n=88) group. Results: At least one co-occurring psychopathology was found in 72.8% of the ADHD group, in 50% of the ASD group, in 72.4% of the ADHD+ASD group and in 76.1% of the NN group (p=0.004). In all groups the most frequent psychiatric disorder was depressive disorder. The only significant difference regarding the patterns of psychiatric co-occurrence between the ADHD and the nonADHD groups (ASD and NN groups) was found for SUD (p=0.001). Also, the proportion of subjects with Bipolar Disorder was significantly greater in the NN group as compared to those with ASD (p=0.025). Conclusions: Our results support the high prevalence of co-occurring psychiatric disorders in adults with ADHD and/or ASD with the ASD group presenting the lowest rate. The most marked difference between the ADHD and the nonADHD groups was found for SUD. Moreover, our findings highlight the need for a thorough clinical assessment of all referred patients both in the presence and absence of ADHD and/or ASD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Artemios Pehlivanidis ◽  
Katerina Papanikolaou ◽  
Kalliopi Korobili ◽  
Eva Kalantzi ◽  
Vasileios Mantas ◽  
...  

This study assessed the co-occurrence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in newly diagnosed adults of normal intelligence and the contribution of trait-based dimensions deriving from the Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale-IV (BAARS-IV), the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and the Empathy Quotient (EQ) to the differentiation of patients with ADHD, ASD, and ADHD/ASD. A total of 16.1% of patients with ADHD received a co-occurring ASD diagnosis, while 33.3% of patients with ASD received an ADHD diagnosis. Subjects with ADHD or ADHD/ASD had higher scores in all ADHD traits compared to ASD subjects. Compared to the ADHD group, the ASD group had AQ scores that were significantly greater, except for attention to detail. ADHD/ASD co-occurrence significantly increased the score of attention to detail. The total EQ score was greater in the ADHD group. In the stepwise logistic regression analyses, past hyperactivity, current inattention and impulsivity, attention switching, communication, imagination, and total EQ score discriminated ADHD patients from ASD patients. Attention to detail, imagination, and total EQ score discriminated ADHD cases from ADHD/ASD cases, while past hyperactivity and current impulsivity discriminated ASD subjects from ADHD/ASD subjects. Our findings highlight the importance of particular trait-based dimensions when discriminating adults with ADHD, ASD, and co-occurring ADHD/ASD.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artemios Pehlivanidis ◽  
Katerina Papanikolaou ◽  
Vasilios Mantas ◽  
Eva Kalantzi ◽  
Kalliopi Korobili ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Co-occurring psychiatric disorders in adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) contribute to the burden of the healthcare and possibly to the delay of diagnosis. Aim of the study was to clinically assess the prevalence and compare lifetime co-occurring psychopathology in a sample of newly diagnosed ADHD and/or ASD adults and discuss the diagnostic challenges they pose.Methods The lifetime prevalence rates of ten of the most frequently co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses was registered in 336 adults of normal intelligence who underwent a thorough clinical evaluation for the diagnosis of ADHD and/or ASD for the first time in their lives. Four study groups were formed: the ADHD (n = 151), the ASD (n = 58), the ADHD + ASD (n = 28) and the nonADHD/nonASD (NN) (n = 88) group.Results At least one co-occurring psychopathology was found in 72.8% of the ADHD group, in 50% of the ASD group, in 72.4% of the ADHD + ASD group and in 76.1% of the NN group (p = 0.004). In all groups the most frequent psychiatric disorder was depressive disorder. The only significant difference regarding the patterns of psychiatric co-occurrence between the ADHD, the ASD and NN groups was found for substance use disorder (SUD) (p = 0.001). Also, the proportion of subjects with Bipolar Disorder was significantly greater in the NN group as compared to those with ASD (p = 0.025).Conclusions Our results support the high prevalence of co-occurring psychiatric disorders in adults with ADHD and/or ASD with the ASD group presenting the lowest rate. The most marked difference between the ADHD and the nonADHD groups was found for SUD. Moreover, our findings highlight the need for a thorough clinical assessment of all referred patients both in the presence and absence of ADHD and/or ASD.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Migó ◽  
Sylvia Guillory ◽  
Christopher S. McLaughlin ◽  
Emily L. Isenstein ◽  
Hannah E. Grosman ◽  
...  

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, where motor impairments are common and impact individuals across the lifespan. A growing body of work suggests that alterations in predictive processes may contribute to the ASD symptomatology, such that the anticipation of upcoming events is disrupted. Such an alteration could potentially impact motor planning. Motor planning deficits are not, however, unique to ASD. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been linked to motor planning and execution difficulties, and ADHD commonly co-occurs with ASD. Whether motor planning deficits are characteristic of ASD broadly or magnified in the context of co-morbid ADHD is unclear. In this study we examined the lateralized readiness potential (LRP) to assess motor preparation and action-consequence prediction. While electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded, 29 typically developing (TD) controls and 21 ASD children both with (ASD+ADHD; n=12) and without (ASD−ADHD; n=9) comorbid ADHD completed a paradigm wherein voluntary actions either did or did not result in an auditory consequence. Our results revealed differences in LRP amplitude as a function of group and whether an action produced an effect. In TD, LRP amplitude was attenuated when an action produced an effect versus when it did not. In contrast, the ASD−ADHD group demonstrated LRP enhancement when the action led to an effect. Finally, the ASD+ADHD had attenuated LRP responses compared to other groups regardless of action-effect pairings. These findings suggest that the neural mechanisms for motor preparation and prediction differ between ASD and TD, and are influenced by the presence or absence of ADHD comorbidity.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Chen ◽  
Zengjian Wang ◽  
Bin Wan ◽  
Qingxin Chen ◽  
Yu Jin

Abstract BackgroundVisuospatial working memory (VSWM) impairments were common in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, the detailed processing characteristics when facing face stimuli has not been studied. The present study aimed to explore the deficits of face encoding and retrieving, two processing periods of VSWM, in children with ASD. Furthermore, the influence of comorbid with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and executive function (EF) on VSWM were discussed.MethodsA sample of 98 children were analyzed in the present study including ASD- (ASD-only, n = 24), ADHD (n = 23), ASD+ (with ADHD symptoms, n = 23) and neurotypical controls (NTC, n = 28). Social Responsive Scale (SRS) and Swanson, Nolan, Pelham-IV rating scales (SNAP-IV) were applied to measure autistic and ADHD-related symptoms. We employed face encoding and retrieving task to examine the ability of VSWM as well as Wisconsin Cart Sorting Test (WCST) to assess the EF.ResultsWe found that the children with ASD- exhibited lower accuracy in both face encoding and retrieving, while subjects with ASD + showed lower accuracy in the face retrieving. No evidence implied a deficit of VSWM in ADHD group. We also found diverse indices of EF contributed to the individuals’ differences of VSWM performance in different clinical groups: categories completed (CC) predicted the accuracy of face retrieving in ASD- group; perseverative responses errors (RPE) predicted the response time (RT) of face retrieving in ADHD and ASD + group; while failure to maintain set (FMS) and RPE predicted the RT of face encoding in ASD + group.LimitationsThe sample size is still small and the sample mainly comprised of intellectually able participants. Therefore, our findings should not be overinterpreted.ConclusionOur findings indicate that comorbid with ADHD symptoms and EF may modulate the deficit of face encoding in children with ASD. The study shed lights on the transdiagnostic neurocognitive basis and re-emphasize the importance of considering ADHD-comorbid condition in ASD.Qi Chen and Zengjian Wang contributed equally to this work as the joint first authors.


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