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Eating problems in ADHD: self-regulatory or inattentive/impulsive

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

A. Araújo ,
M. Batista ,
M.D. Pascoal ,
A.T. Pereira ,
F. Ventura ,
N. Madeira  and
A. Macedo
A. Araújo*
Affiliation:
Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, -, Coimbra, Portugal
M. Batista
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
M.D. Pascoal
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
A.T. Pereira
Affiliation:
Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, -, Coimbra, Portugal
F. Ventura
Affiliation:
Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
N. Madeira
Affiliation:
Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
A. Macedo
Affiliation:
Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

ADHD is a risk factor for impulsive/compulsive eating problems (EP). In, bulimia nervosa and compulsive eating disorder, EP are frequently preceded by negative affect and experienced as loss of control. Clarifying the underlying causes (eg., ADHD symptoms and/or psychological distress) of EP in ADHD would allow the development of targeted interventions.

Objectives

To a) compare levels of EP between ADHD patients and a community sample, and b) test if ADHD symptoms and psychological distress predict EP, in ADHD patients.

Methods

Adults with ADHD (n=32; age=23.78+/-6.12; 69% males) from the Neurodevelopmental Outpatient Unit of Coimbra and healthy participants (n=30; age=36.90+/-13.23; 57% males) answered an online survey including the Portuguese versions of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale Symptom Checklist, the Parkinson’s Disease Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders Questionnaire-Current Short and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale.

Results

The ADHD group reported experiencing more EP than healthy individuals (18/32 vs. 4/30; χ2=12.458, p<.001). ADHD patients with EP suffered from severer ADHD inattentive, hyperactive, and global symptoms and higher levels of psychological distress (p<.001 to p=.027). Logistic regression model testing if ADHD and psychological distress symptoms predicted EP, in ADHD, explained 38.8% of the variance and showed that the only significant predictor was ADHD symptoms (B=.121, SE=.051, p=.017).

Conclusions

Our results indicate that EP are associated with severer ADHD clinical pictures. EP arose secondarily to ADHD symptoms, instead of serving as means to alleviate psychological distress. Clinicians should be mindful that, in ADHD patients, EP follow specific motivations, i.e., impulsivity and inattention, and may respond to combined cognitive-behavioural/executive training strategy.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

Impulsivityeating problemsadhd
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S464
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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