ABSTRACT
Diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults requires retrospective assessment of ADHD symptoms in childhood. The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and its German validated version (WURS-k) may offer a helpful tool to acertain relevant childhood problems associated with ADHD. Up to now validating data of the WURS-k were limited to male population. In a population of 69 female adult ADHD patients and 97 controls, ROC analysis indicated a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 92% at a cut-off of 30 points in the WURS-k. This cut-off value is equivalent to those of males. Symptom report varies significantly by gender and females describe more internalizing problems while males report more externalizing behaviour. Regarding different subtypes according to DSM-IV males and females did not differ in the items of the WURS-k.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/diagnosis , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/epidemiology , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Comorbidity , Female , Germany/epidemiology , Humans , Male , Personality Inventory/standards , Prevalence , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/standards , Reproducibility of Results , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
Prospective studies of children with ADHD have shown a high level of substance use disorder comorbidity, particularly when associated with social maladaptation and antisocial behavior. Conversely, studies of drug abusing participants and delinquents revealed a high prevalence of ADHD comorbidity. In this study 129 young male prison inmates were systematically examined for ADHD and substance use disorders. 64,3 % showed harmful alcohol consumption. 67,4 % fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for any drug abuse or dependence. 28,8 % of these participants were diagnosed with ADHD, combined type, other 52,1 % showed ADHD residual type. Opioid dependence was more common in delinquents without ADHD. Addicted delinquents with ADHD showed worse social environment and a higher degree of psychopathology, including externalizing and internalizing behavior, compared to addicted delinquents without ADHD. Neuroticism and conscientiousness ratings of the addicted ADHD group, but not of those without ADHD, differed from non-addicted delinquents. The results underline the need of adequate therapeutic programs for addicted young prison inmates considering ADHD comorbidity, which is associated with additional psychopathology and social problems.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/epidemiology , Prisoners/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Adult , Alcoholism/complications , Alcoholism/epidemiology , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/complications , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Family , Germany/epidemiology , Humans , Juvenile Delinquency/psychology , Male , Opioid-Related Disorders/complications , Opioid-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Personality , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Socioeconomic Factors , Substance-Related Disorders/complications , Substance-Related Disorders/psychologyABSTRACT
We report on the development of a German self-rating behaviour questionnaire (ADHD-SR) and diagnostic checklist (ADHD-DC) for the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults according to DSM IV and ICD 10 research criteria. When comparing self-rating with expert rating, we found good concordance measured by intraclass coefficients on the level of single symptoms and syndrome scores. High retest reliability of the ADHD-SR demonstrated the ability to assess time-stable behaviour traits. Evaluation of the psychometric properties revealed good internal consistency and adequate convergent and divergent validity measured by the "big five" derived from the NEO-FFI and the constructs impulsivity, venturesomeness, and empathy of Eysenck's impulsiveness questionnaire. We detected a remarkable correlation with the Wender Utah Rating Scale, which targets the detection of childhood ADHD symptoms. Diagnostic sensitivity for different cutoff points was calculated by ROC analysis at 65--88%. Specificity was 67% to 92%.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/diagnosis , Neuropsychological Tests/statistics & numerical data , Personality Assessment/statistics & numerical data , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Female , Humans , International Classification of Diseases , Male , Middle Aged , Psychometrics/statistics & numerical data , Reproducibility of Results , Statistics as Topic , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The application of several personality tests to 191 forensic subjects indicates that these tests contribute little to the evaluation of penal responsibility but do contribute to the social and criminal prognosis. Moreover, specific scales have been more useful in this study than comprehensive inventories.
Subject(s)
Forensic Psychiatry , Mental Disorders/psychology , Personality Tests , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/rehabilitation , Personality Inventory , PrognosisSubject(s)
Neurotic Disorders/psychology , Personality Disorders/psychology , Psychological Tests , Schizophrenic Psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neurotic Disorders/diagnosis , Personality Disorders/diagnosis , Psychometrics , Psychopathology , Schizophrenia/diagnosisABSTRACT
We carried out a study on 63 patients suffering from alcoholism in order to determine the frequency of 27 HLA antigens. In comparison to healthy blood donors no significant deviation of HLA distributions in alcoholics was found. The data on alcoholic patients with physical consequences such as cerebral seizures, liver cirrhosis and polyneuropathy failed to identify an association with HLA.
