Alexithymia, emotion processing and social anxiety in adults with ADHD.
OBJECTIVE
given sparse research on the issue, this study sought to shed light upon the interactions of alexithymia, emotion processing, and social anxiety in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).


METHODS
73 German adults with ADHD according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria participated. We used the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to assess alexithymia, the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) to assess different features of social anxiety, and we applied the German "Experience of Emotions Scalerdquor; (SEE) to measure emotion processing.


RESULTS
40% of the sample were found to meet the DSM-IV criteria of social anxiety disorder, and about 22% were highly alexithymic according to a TAS-20 total score ≥ 61; however, the mean TAS-20 total score of 50.94 ± 9.3 was not much higher than in community samples. Alexithymic traits emerged to be closely linked to emotion processing problems, particularly 'difficulty accepting own emotions', and to social anxiety features.


CONCLUSIONS
our findings suggest interactions of alexithymia, emotion processing dysfunction, and social anxiety in adults with ADHD, which may entail the therapeutic implication to thoroughly instruct these patients to identify, accept, communicate, and regulate their emotions to aid reducing interaction anxiety.
Edel
M-A
MA
Depart. of Psychiatry, Rurh University, LWL, Hospital Bouchum, Germany.
Rudel
A
A
Hubert
C
C
Scheele
D
D
Brüne
M
M
Juckel
G
G
Assion
Hans-Jörg
HJ
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012919:Social Behavior