Perception of emotional prosody in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with social conflicts. The purpose of this study was to explore domains of social cognition in adult patients with ADHD. The assessment of social cognition was based on established neuropsychological tests: the Tübinger Affect Battery (TAB) for prosody and the Cambridge Behaviour Scale (CBS) for empathy. The performance of adults with ADHD (N = 28) was compared with the performance of a control group (N = 29) matched according to basic demographic variables. Treatment-naïve adults with ADHD showed deficits in emotional prosody (P = 0.02) and in the ability to empathize (P < 0.02) independent of executive functioning. In particular, their ability to perceive angry feelings was found to be compromised (P = 0.04). When emotional prosody was considered in relation to facial expressions, patients and controls showed no impairments (P > 0.2). No gender differences concerning social cognitive skills were detected. ADHD is associated with social cognition impairments involving both emotional prosody and empathy.