title: Impaired decision-making as a young adult outcome of girls diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in childhood.
abstract: We examined decision-making in young adulthood in a follow-up study of females diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between 6 and 12 years. Participants with childhood ADHD (n = 114) and matched comparison females (n = 77), followed prospectively for 10 years, performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) at ages 17-25 years. This task assesses preference for high-reward/high-risk chances that result in lower overall gains (disadvantageous decks of cards) compared to low-reward/low-risk chances that result in higher overall gains (advantageous decks of cards). Relative to comparison participants, young adult females with a history of ADHD did not increase their preference for advantageous decks across time blocks, suggesting difficulties in learning to change behavior over the course of the IGT. Overall, childhood diagnoses of ADHD were associated with disadvantageous decision-making in young adulthood. These results extend findings on decision-making in males with ADHD by demonstrating comparable levels of impairment in an all-female sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-1650, USA. meghanmiller@berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sheridan
authors.forename: Stephanie L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Cardoos
authors.forename: Stephen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hinshaw
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D055815:Young Adult