Subgroups of Childhood ADHD Based on Temperament Traits and Cognition: Concurrent and Predictive Validity.

Subgroups of Childhood ADHD Based on Temperament Traits and Cognition: Concurrent and Predictive Validity.
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2020 Jul 14;:
Authors: Goh PK, Lee CA, Martel MM, Karalunas SL, Nigg JT
Abstract
Efforts to parse ADHD's heterogeneity in the DSM system has generally relied on subtypes, or presentations, based on different symptom combinations. Promising recent work has suggested that biologically-relevant and clinically predictive subgroups may be identified via an alternative feature set based on either a) temperament traits or b) executive function measures. Yet, the potential additive ability of these domains for specifying ADHD sub-phenotypes remains unknown. We thus sought to determine whether temperament traits and executive function, together, could facilitate a more nuanced and clinically meaningful subgrouping of children with ADHD. Participants included 828 children aged 7-11 years (62% with ADHD, 38% female). Latent profile and community detection analyses using both temperament and cognitive input features provided support for a primarily temperament-based three-subgroup solution (i.e., "Mild," "Irritable," and "Surgent"), although the distinction between Surgent and Mild subgroups may have been better explained as an ADHD symptom severity effect. There was also evidence of a five-subgroup solution, in which cognitive measures differentiated the Surgent subgroup into those with and without cognitive impair...

Source: Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology - July 13, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Goh PK, Lee CA, Martel MM, Karalunas SL, Nigg JT Tags: J Abnorm Child Psychol Source Type: research