title: The relationship between childhood history of ADHD symptoms and DSM-IV borderline personality disorder features among personality disordered outpatients: the moderating role of gender and the mediating roles of emotion dysregulation and impulsivity.
abstract: A number of studies have reported data suggestive of a significant association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, the nature of this relation is not fully understood. This study aimed to evaluate if the relation between retrospectively assessed ADHD symptoms and adult BPD features is moderated by participants' gender and mediated by emotion dysregulation and impulsivity. Two hundred seventeen outpatients meeting DSM-IV criteria for at least one personality disorder (PD) consecutively admitted to the Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit of the Scientific Institute H San Raffaele of Milan, Italy, were administered Italian versions of the following instruments: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II), Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11). Moderation analyses revealed a significant association between ADHD and BPD symptoms among only female (vs. male) outpatients. Furthermore, in the female subsample, mediation analyses revealed that both impulsivity and emotion dysregulation fully mediated the relationship between retrospectively assessed ADHD symptoms and current BPD features.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Studies, LUMSA University, Rome, Italy; Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit, San Raffaele Turro Hospital, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fossati
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216, USA.
authors.forename: Kim L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Gratz
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit, San Raffaele Turro Hospital, Milano, Italy; Faculty of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borroni
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit, San Raffaele Turro Hospital, Milano, Italy; Faculty of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maffei
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Studies, LUMSA University, Rome, Italy; Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit, San Raffaele Turro Hospital, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Somma
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit, San Raffaele Turro Hospital, Milano, Italy. Electronic address: davide.carlotta@alice.it.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carlotta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010045:Outpatients; D010556:Personality Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics