NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION IN ADULTS WITH ATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

Background: Recent studies indicate that attention-deficit hyperactivi ty disorder (ADHD) persists into adulthood, but little is known about the neuropsychological features of adult ADHD, Our objective was to as sess neuropsychological functioning in adults with ADHD with a battery of executive function tests. Methods: Subjects were 64 unmedicated ad ults, 19-59 years of age, with DSM-III-R ADHD of childhood onset who m et criteria for ADHD when referred in adulthood and 73 non-ADHD contro ls of similar age and gender Information on neuropsychological perform ance was obtained irt a standardized manner blind to clinical status. Results: Compared with controls, adults with ADHD were significantly i mpaired on measures of vigilance, semantic encoding for verbal memory, and written arithmetic, irrespective of age, gender, psychiatric como rbidity, or presence of learning disability. Despite comparable educat ional level and IQ, ADHD adults had a trend to lower occupational atta inment and had significantly? more academic problems in school. Conclu sions: These executive, attention, and achievement dysfunctions demons trated in adults with ADHD provide additional support for the validity of the syndrome in adults. Biol Psychiatry 1998;44:260-268 (C) 1998 S ociety of Biological Psychiatry.