title: Personality traits in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and their unaffected first-degree relatives.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows clear, albeit heterogeneous, cognitive dysfunctions. However, personality traits are not well understood in adults with ADHD, and it is unclear whether they are predisposing factors or phenotypical facets of the condition.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether personality traits of impulsivity, sensation seeking and sensitivity to punishment and reward are predisposing factors for ADHD or aspects of the clinical phenotype.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty adults with ADHD, 20 unaffected first-degree relatives and 20 controls completed rating scales assessing traits of impulsivity, sensation seeking and sensitivity to punishment/reward.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with relatives and controls, individuals with ADHD showed increased impulsive personality traits, were more susceptible to boredom and presented hypersensitivity to reward but normal sensitivity to punishment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High impulsivity traits, heightened sensitivity to reward and boredom are associated with the phenotype of ADHD, rather than being predisposing factors, as these traits were not shared between ADHD probands and their relatives.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  E.T.B. is employed part-time by GSK and part-time by the University of Cambridge; he holds stock in GSK. B.J.S. consults for Cambridge Cognition, Servier and Lundbeck; she holds a grant from Janssen/J&J. U.M. has received honoraria for consultancy and speaking at conferences and travel expenses from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Pharmacia-Upjohn and UCB Pharma.
  © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.
authors.affiliation: , PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and MRC/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and Adult ADHD Clinic, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Valentino Antonio
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Pironti
authors.affiliation: , MD, PhD, Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Meng-Chuan
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: , MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and Adult ADHD Clinic, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: , MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and MRC/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and Adult ADHD Clinic, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Edward Thomas
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Bullmore
authors.affiliation: , PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and MRC/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and Adult ADHD Clinic, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Barbara Jacquelyn
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Sahakian