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The specificity of clinical characteristics in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a comparison with patients with borderline personality disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

J.H. Dowson ,
A. McLean ,
E. Bazanis ,
B. Toone ,
S. Young ,
T.W. Robbins  and
B. Sahakian
J.H. Dowson*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Box 189, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University, CambridgeCB2 2QQ, UK
A. McLean
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Box 189, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University, CambridgeCB2 2QQ, UK
E. Bazanis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Box 189, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University, CambridgeCB2 2QQ, UK
B. Toone
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Kings College Hospital, London, UK
S. Young
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
T.W. Robbins
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Cambridge University, CambridgeCB2 2QQ, UK
B. Sahakian
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Box 189, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University, CambridgeCB2 2QQ, UK
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: jhd1000@cam.ac.uk (J.H. Dowson).
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Abstract

Characteristics of DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults can also be found as part of other psychiatric disorders. This study investigated the specificity of adult ADHD features in relation to patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), a syndrome which shares some of its intrinsic features with ADHD and often co-occurs with ADHD. A group of 20 adult patients selected on the basis of a diagnosis of ADHD and 20 patients selected on the basis of a diagnosis of BPD were assessed by the self-report Attention Deficit Scales for Adults (ADSA). The two groups were matched for age, verbal IQ and gender. Of the nine ADSA scales, seven showed significant inter-group differences, in particular involving attention, organisation and persistence. The ‘Consistency/Long-Term’ scale, which mainly reflects impaired task and goal persistence, was the best discriminator between the groups. Furthermore, ratings on this scale correlated significantly with the error score of a computer-administered task of spatial working memory, the performance of which has been reported to be impaired in patients with ADHD. The results provide further validation for the ADSA scales and support a previous claim that ‘long-term consistencies’, i.e., related to task and goal persistence, is ‘the centrepiece behavioural issue’ for adults with ADHD.

Keywords

Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , April 2004 , pp. 72 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 European Psychiatric Association

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