Does ADHD Symptomatology Influence Treatment Outcome and Dropout Risk in Eating Disorders? A longitudinal Study
Testa, Giulia (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge)
Baenas Soto, Isabel Maria (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge)
Vintró Alcaraz, Cristina (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge)
Granero, Roser (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Psicobiologia i de Metodologia de Ciències de la Salut)
Agüera, Zaida (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament d'Infermeria de Salut Pública, Salut Mental i Maternoinfantil)
Sánchez, Isabel (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge)
Riesco, Nadine (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge)
Jiménez-Murcia, Susana (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Ciències Clíniques)
Fernández-Aranda, Fernando (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Ciències Clíniques)

Date:	2020
Abstract:	Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its symptoms have been shown to be present in patients with eating disorders (EDs) and are associated with increased psychopathology and more dysfunctional personality traits. This study aimed to assess if the presence of ADHD symptoms in patients with EDs affects their short and long-term therapy outcome. A total of 136 consecutively treated ED patients were considered in this study. Baseline pre-treatment evaluation included the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS v1. 1) for ADHD symptoms and the assessment of eating symptomatology using the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI-2). Treatment outcome was evaluated in terms of ED symptoms after cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dropout rate during treatment. Furthermore, we evaluated ED symptoms in treatment completers after a follow-up of 8 years on average. Path analyses assessed the potential mediational role of the EDI-2 total score in the relationship between ADHD and treatment outcome. Results showed that baseline symptoms of ADHD indirectly affected treatment outcome after CBT; the ASRS positive screening was related to higher eating symptomatology (standardized coefficient B = 0. 41, p = 0. 001, 95% CI: 0. 26 to 0. 55), and the presence of high ED levels contributed to the increase of dropout (B = 0. 15, p = 0. 041, 95% CI: 0. 03 to 0. 33) and a worse treatment outcome (B = 0. 18, p = 0. 041, 95% CI: 0. 01 to 0. 35). No direct effect was found between the ASRS positive screening with the risk of dropout (B = −0. 08, p = 0. 375) and worse treatment outcome (B = −0. 07, p = 0. 414). These results suggest the relevance of identifying specific treatment approaches for patients with ADHD symptoms and severe eating symptomatology.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ; ADHD ; Eating disorders ; Longitudinal ; Treatment outcome ; Dropout
Published in:	Journal of clinical medicine, Vol. 9 (july 2020) , ISSN 2077-0383

DOI: 10.3390/jcm9072305
PMID: 32698514

12 p, 917.3 KB

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