The effects of emotional dysregulation on executive function in adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in childhood.

Deficits in executive function and emotional dysregulation are known to distinctly impact individuals with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There is a scarcity of literature investigating how these factors are dynamically linked and influence functionality in adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional dysregulation and executive function in adolescents with ADHD through the use of anger and cognitive performance measures. Eighty-nine ADHD participants between the age of 7-11 years old and eighty-five age-matched controls participated in the research. All participants were required to complete a series of anger tasks including the Buss-Perry Aggression Question and State-Trait Anger Inventory-2, alongside cognition protocols such as the Stroop Colour-Word Tasks and the Weschler Adult intelligence Scale. In addition to these, ADHD symptom severity was assessed through the use of teacher- and parent-rating scales. A one-way analysis of variance’s (ANOVA) revealed a series of significant interactions between groups (P.05). A moderation analysis further analysed the relationship between remitting and persisting ADHD participants and revealed a significant relationship between anger scores and both symptom severity and cognitive performance (t(78) = 2.32, p = .02, CI: .95-12.50). Results indicated that when increased levels of trait anger were coupled with a remitting diagnosis, cognitive performance on Stroop Word-Colour tasks were significantly impacted relative to persisters (t(78) = -2.90, p < .01). These findings suggest that emotional dysregulation impacts cognitive performance in both persisting and remitting adolescent ADHD groups. Secondly, a remitting diagnosis revealed that the relationship between anger and cognitive performance experienced greater impairment. Evidence in the present study supports the notion that emotional dysregulation and executive functioning are linked in individuals with a diagnosis of ADHD and may impact achievement in social, schooling or workplace environments. Future research efforts should consider identifying differences in anger presentation between remitting and persisting adolescent groups, and also the impact this association has on lifestyle factors