[Emotionality and temperament in attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity]

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Emotional Regulation

Background:

• Attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD) is associated with difficulties in emotional self-regulation.
• These self-regulation deficits significantly impact personality development and overall functioning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how impaired self-regulatory skills, emotional awareness, autonomy, and temperament influence adjustment problems in children with ADHD.
• To understand the risk factors contributing to adjustment and adaptation issues in pediatric ADHD.

Main Methods:

• Review of literature on ADHD, emotional self-regulation, and temperament.
• Analysis of the interplay between emotional reactivity, self-regulation, and environmental factors in ADHD.

Main Results:

• Children with ADHD often exhibit high emotional reactivity and poor self-regulatory skills.
• The interaction of emotionality and temperament directly and indirectly affects children with ADHD and their environments.

Conclusions:

• A combination of poor self-regulation, limited emotional awareness/autonomy, and a temperament favoring novelty-seeking and low persistence elevates the risk for adjustment problems in ADHD.
• These factors contribute to a range of adaptation difficulties throughout childhood and adolescence.