Abstract
Introduction: Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents. Although it is known that both perfectionism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (‘ADHD’) are important risk factors for suicide, there are no studies that have investigated the relationship between suicidal behavior and perfectionism among people with ADHD.Aim: The current study investigates the association between perfectionism and suicide in adolescents with ADHD.Method: Subjects included 88 adolescents with ADHD and 96 non-clinical control adolescents. We used the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale to evaluate perfectionism as well as its separate traits, and the Mini International Neuropsychologic Interview Kid to evaluate psychiatric disorders and suicidal behavior. Differences between the groups were statistically evaluated using t-tests, a Poisson regression analysis with suicide as a discrete variable, and a logistic regression analysis with suicide as a binary variable.Results: Compared to the control group, the ADHD group showed a significantly lower level on the adaptive ‘Organization’ trait of perfectionism, but not on any other trait, and a significantly higher level of suicidal behavior.Logistic regression results indicated a significant association for perfectionism in general (OR = 0.93, p = 0.003), and for the ‘Personal Standards’ trait (OR: 0.82, p = 0.039).Poisson regression analysis also showed a significant association with perfectionism in general (IRR = 0.90; p < 0.001) and with the ‘Personal standards’ trait model (IRR = 0.81, p = 0.019).Discussion: Our results indicate that a low level of perfectionism, in particular ‘Personal standards’, may be a risk factor for suicidal behavior in adolescents with ADHD. We recommend that psychoeducation and therapy of adolescents with ADHD should consider focusing on adaptive perfection as a possible risk factor for suicide as well.
Highlights
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents
There was one subscale showing a significant difference between the groups, namely ‘Organization’: The Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) group scored significantly lower on this trait than the control group [t(183) = 3.153 p = 0.002]; effect size medium [d = 0.47; clinical group: M = 21.73; sd = 5.18, control group: M = 24.02; sd: = 4.7, standard deviations were homogeneous (F = 0.946; p = 0.332)]
According to our knowledge this is the first study which investigates if perfectionism is a risk factor for suicidal behavior in adolescents with ADHD
Summary
It is known that both perfectionism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (‘ADHD’) are important risk factors for suicide, there are no studies that have investigated the relationship between suicidal behavior and perfectionism among people with ADHD. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (‘ADHD’) is one of the most diagnosed psychiatric disorder among children and adolescents [1], with a prevalence of 4–6% in children, while up to two-thirds of them have impairments in adulthood as well [2,3,4]. The core symptoms of ADHD include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). People with ADHD often endure stigmatization due to their symptoms including social rejection [5,6,7]. According to Wu [8] ADHD is associated with poorer school tests, and they drop out of school more often. Kent [10] found that, even if controlled for IQ, there was a significant difference in cumulative grade point averages between adolescent males with ADHD and non-clinical adolescent males
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
