Dorien Bangma

FDM AND CURRENT SYMPTOMS OF ADHD | 187 Materials and Methods Participants. A community sample of 1292 participants (586 males and 706 females) with an age range of 18 to 93 years (M = 48.8, SD = 18.5) participated in the present study. Demographical characteristics of the participants are described in Table 8.1. The (para)medical history of participants, beside medication use, has not been recorded. Fifty-six participants (4.3%) reported to use antidepressants or antipsychotics, twenty-one participants (1.6%) reported to use benzodiazepines and four participants (0.3%) reported to use stimulants (e.g., methylphenidate). The reason for medication use was, however, not evaluated and, therefore, participants were not excluded on basis of their medication use. Symptoms of ADHD. All participants were assessed with a self-report ADHD rating scale (ARS, see Materials). Based on their scores on the ARS, four groups were formed to use for group comparison analysis (see Data analyses). Group 1, named ‘ ADHD’ (n = 46), met the self-reported symptom criteria for both adulthood and childhood ADHD as defined in the DSM- 5 (i.e., ≥ 5 symptoms of inattention and/or ≥ 5 symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity were reported to be present in the last six months and ≥ 6 symptoms of inattention and/or ≥ 6 symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity were reported to be present when 0 – 12 years old, respectively (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). According to the presentation of current symptoms of ADHD, 43.5% (n = 20) of the ADHD group showed an inattentive presentation of ADHD, 21.7% (n = 10) a hyperactive/impulsive presentation of ADHD and 34.8% (n = 16) a mixed presentation of ADHD. Group 2, named ‘ Adult-only ADHD’ (n = 57), met the DSM-5 classification for adulthood ADHD, but not for childhood ADHD. Group 3, named ‘ Subthreshold ADHD’ (n = 162), did not meet the DSM-5 criteria for adulthood ADHD, but reported 3 or 4 current symptoms of inattention and/or 3 or 4 current symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity. Retrospective symptoms of ADHD (i.e., when 0-12 years old) were not part of the inclusion criteria for this group. However, 20.4% of participants in the Subthreshold ADHD group met the DSM-5 self-reported symptom criteria of childhood ADHD (Appendix 8-1). Since the focus of the present study was on adults with current symptoms of ADHD, a non-persistent ADHD group (i.e., individuals who meet the self-reported DSM-5 symptom criteria for childhood ADHD but not for adulthood ADHD) was not taken into account. Finally, a matched control group was formed including participants classified as not having current ADHD symptoms (i.e., 0 or 1 current ADHD symptom(s) of inattention and 0 or 1 current ADHD symptom(s) of hyperactivity and impulsivity, irrespective of retrospective symptoms of ADHD). To control for age, sex and level of education, the 265 individuals of the ADHD, Adult-only ADHD and Subthreshold ADHD groups were matched with 265 participants without having current symptoms of ADHD, resulting in a matched ‘ No ADHD’ group (n = 265; Table 8.1). Participants who did not meet the matching criteria and/or inclusion criteria of one of the four groups (n = 762) were not taken into account when conducting group comparisons.