TY - JOUR
T1 - The influence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder on Executive Functions in children with ADHD
AU - Menghini, D.
AU - Armando, M.
AU - Calcagni, M.
AU - Napolitano, C.
AU - Pasqualetti, P.
AU - Sergeant, J. A.
AU - Pani, P.
AU - Vicari, S.
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - The present study was aimed at verifying whether the presence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) affects executive functions in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Two groups of children with ADHD were selected for the study according to the presence or absence of GAD. The first group of 28 children with ADHD with GAD (mean age: 9 ± 1.2; males/females: 24/4) was matched for gender, age, IQ, psychiatric comorbidity with a second group of 29 children with ADHD without GAD (mean age: 8.8 ± 0.7; males/females: 26/3). The two groups with ADHD were compared to 28 typically developing children (mean age: 8.3 ± 1.3; males/females: 23/5) on different measures involving processes especially important in inhibitory control such as rule maintenance, stimulus detection, action selection and action execution. Our results indicated that, differently from children with ADHD with GAD, only the group with ADHD without GAD showed a deficit in inhibitory control. Comorbid subgroups should be differentiated, especially, to develop specific and efficient therapeutic interventions in ADHD.
AB - The present study was aimed at verifying whether the presence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) affects executive functions in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Two groups of children with ADHD were selected for the study according to the presence or absence of GAD. The first group of 28 children with ADHD with GAD (mean age: 9 ± 1.2; males/females: 24/4) was matched for gender, age, IQ, psychiatric comorbidity with a second group of 29 children with ADHD without GAD (mean age: 8.8 ± 0.7; males/females: 26/3). The two groups with ADHD were compared to 28 typically developing children (mean age: 8.3 ± 1.3; males/females: 23/5) on different measures involving processes especially important in inhibitory control such as rule maintenance, stimulus detection, action selection and action execution. Our results indicated that, differently from children with ADHD with GAD, only the group with ADHD without GAD showed a deficit in inhibitory control. Comorbid subgroups should be differentiated, especially, to develop specific and efficient therapeutic interventions in ADHD.
KW - Comorbid ADHD
KW - Inhibitory control
KW - Internalizing disorders
KW - Response inhibition
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U2 - 10.1007/s00406-017-0831-9
DO - 10.1007/s00406-017-0831-9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85026542392
SN - 0940-1334
VL - 268
SP - 349
EP - 357
JO - European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
JF - European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
IS - 4
ER -