THE BIG FIVE AND ADHD: AN INVESTIGATION OF SUBTYPES AND EMOTIONAL REGULATION

• Main Author: Casher, Gabriel
• Format: Others
• Published: OpenSIUC 2016
• Subjects: ADHD; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; Big Five; Emotional Regulation; Personality
• Online Access: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/1914; https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2928&context=theses

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a commonly occurring neurodevelopmental disorder in children, affecting 3-7% of children (APA, 2000). Despite the high prevalence of ADHD, conceptualization of its subtypes, ADHD-PI and ADHD-C, remains under debate. One method of describing psychopathology is through the use of personality traits. The current study evaluated relationships between ADHD subtypes, ADHD symptoms, and the Big Five in 83 children between 8 and 12 years of age. Children with ADHD were consistently rated as having lower Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness than children without ADHD. Additionally, children with ADHD-PI had the lowest Openness, and children with ADHD-C had the lowest Conscientiousness, although these results differed by rater. When evaluating the symptom domains of ADHD, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Instability were associated with H/I, whereas only Conscientiousness was associated with inattention. Hyperactivity, specifically, was related to Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Instability, whereas impulsivity was related to Conscientiousness and Emotional Instability only. Last, connections between the Emotional Regulation, Emotional Instability, and H/I are discussed. Implications regarding the use of personality measures to describe psychopathology in childhood are discussed, as are the challenges of using multiple raters in clinical populations.