title: Executive functioning characteristics associated with ADHD comorbidity in adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders.
abstract: The nature of executive dysfunction in youth with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) remains unclear, despite extensive research in samples of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To determine the relationship between DBD, ADHD, and executive function deficits in aggressive teens, adolescents with DBD and comorbid ADHD (DBD + ADHD; n = 25), DBD without ADHD (DBD-ADHD; n = 23), and healthy controls (HC; n = 25) were compared on neurocognitive tests and questionnaires measuring executive functioning. Teens with DBD + ADHD performed worse on both neurocognitive and questionnaire measures of executive function than the DBD-ADHD and HC groups. Results suggest that subgroups of DBD may exist depending on the presence or absence of comorbid ADHD, which may have implications for the selection and efficacy of treatment strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA. thummer@iupui.edu
authors.forename: Tom A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Hummer
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Kronenberger
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: Kristine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Mosier
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kalnin
authors.forename: Vincent P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Mathews
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D057190:Stroop Test; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires