title: Pain Sensitivity in Adolescent Males with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Testing for Associations with Conduct Disorder and Callous and Unemotional Traits.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Reduced processing and experience of aversive emotional cues is a common component of theories on the development and persistence of aggression and antisocial behaviour. Yet physical pain, arguably the most basic aversive cue, has attracted comparatively little attention.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study measured pain sensitivity and physiological response to painful stimuli (skin conductance level, SCL) in adolescent boys with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; n = 183), who are at high risk for antisocial behaviour. We compared boys with ADHD with and without a comorbid diagnosis of Conduct Disorder (CD) on pain sensitivity, and examined patterns of association between pain measures, on the one hand, and problem severity and callous and unemotional (CU) traits, on the other.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Boys with comorbid CD exhibited a higher pain threshold and tolerance than boys with ADHD alone, but the groups did not differ in physiology at the time the pain threshold and tolerance were reported. Regression analyses showed that ADHD problem severity positively predicted pain sensitivity, whereas levels of CU traits negatively predicted pain sensitivity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings on physical pain processing extend evidence of impairments in aversive cue processing among those at risk of antisocial behaviour. The study highlights the importance of considering comorbidity and heterogeneity of disorders when developing interventions. The current findings could be used to identify subgroups within those with ADHD who might be less responsive to interventions that use corrective feedback to obtain behaviour change.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Northover
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thapar
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Langley
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephanie H M
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: van Goozen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017288:Pain Threshold; D014852:Wales