Comparison of neuropsychological performances and behavioral patterns of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and severe mood dysregulation

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the similarities and differences in neuropsychological test performance, demographic features and behavioral patterns of children and adolescents with the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder combined type (ADHD-C), and the severe mood dysregulation (SMD). Study includes 112 children: 67 with ADHD-C, 24 with SMD and 21 healthy controls. These groups were identified by using the schedule for affective disorders, and schizophrenia for the school-age children-present and lifetime version (KSADS-PL) and the K-SADS-PL-SMD Module. Conners' Parent and Teacher Rating Scale-revised long form (CPRS-R:L and CTRS-R:L) and neuropsychological tests were administered to the research groups. ADHD-C group's performances in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Trail Making Test, Stroop Test TBAG form and Controlled Oral Word Association Test were significantly poorer than the control group's performances (p < 0.05). Performance of the SMD group was only descriptively intermediate between performances of the ADHD-C and control group. In the "Oppositional", "Hyperactivity", "Social Problems", "Impulsive", "Emotional Lability" and "Conners' Global Index" subscales of CPRS-R:L, the average scores of the SMD group were significantly higher than the ADHD-C and control group's average scores (p < 0.05). ADHD-C group (but not SMD) could be significantly differentiated from healthy controls with the neuropsychological tests used. SMD group could be differentiated from the ADHD-C and healthy control groups with CPRS-R:L; i.e., ADHD-C versus SMD could be differentiated at the behavioral level only.