The Relationship Between Cognitive Distortions and ADHD After Accounting for Depression, Anxiety, and Personality Pathology

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suffer from numerous difficulties in daily functioning and, unfortunately, the medications that are typically the first-line of treatment do not ameliorate many of these issues. Psychosocial treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, are increasingly demonstrating effectiveness both in conjunction with medication and as stand-alone treatments for ADHD. It is theorized that some of the problems associated with adult ADHD result from cognitive distortions. Previous studies have identified a preliminary relationship between cognitive distortions and ADHD, but these studies did not measure personality pathology, which might explain part of the findings, given that personality disorders are highly comorbid with ADHD and cognitive distortions. The purpose of the current study was to determine the relationship between cognitive distortions and ADHD after accounting for personality pathology, depression, and anxiety. Results demonstrated that the previously identified relationship between cognitive distortions and ADHD disappears once personality pathology, depression, and anxiety are taken into consideration. As such, it appears that the relationship between ADHD and cognitive distortions can be explained by the existence of comorbidities and that cognitive distortions are not inherent to a diagnosis of ADHD itself. These findings may lend support to the hypothesis that adult ADHD is a disorder of deficit and not distortion