Young Adult Romantic Couples’ Conflict Resolution And Satisfaction Varies With Partner's Attention–Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Type

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has previously been associated with lesssatisfaction and success in romantic relationships. This study compares conflict resolutionand problem-solving behaviors in young adult romantic couples either having one partnerwith ADHD combined type (C-couples), having one partner identified with ADHD inattentivetype (IA-couples), or in which neither partner has an ADHD diagnosis (nondiagnosed[ND] couples). Self-reports of current and childhood ADHD symptoms corroborated diagnosticstatus and speaker and listener behaviors, coded via the Rapid Couples InteractionScoring System (Gottman, 1996), were the primary dependent variables. Analyses revealedgreater negativity and less positivity in C-couples’ behavior during a conflict resolution task,relative to IA and ND couples, and this corresponded with couples’ relational satisfaction.IA-couples emitted relational behavior that was largely similar to ND couples. Findings supportthat relational impairment exists in C-couples, and to some degree, contrast with previousresearch suggesting that individuals with predominant inattention experience greatersocial impairment in adulthood than those with other types of ADHD