The Relationship between Attention Del? cit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in University Students, Electrophysiological Components, and MMPI-2 Scores

This study examined ADHD symptoms based on brain function and determined the correlation between them and clinical scale scores. The sample used in the initial phase of the study consisted of a total of 232 young adults (158 female, 74 male) within the age range of 17 to 25 years (M = 20.11 +/- 1.60). These participants were all university students who volunteered to participate in the study. The sample used in the second phase of the study, which involved electrophysiological measurements, consisted of 17 subjects with ADHD (ADHD+; eight female, nine male) and 16 control subjects (ADHD-; nine female, seven male), all of whom obtained extreme scores on the Adult ADD/ADHD Scale and were right-handed. The effects of the stimulus conditions used in the selective attention neuropsychological task on behavior (correct response percentages and correct response latencies) and event-related potential parameters (amplitude and latency) were tested and analyzed through multivariate analysis of variance (2 x 5). The peak amplitudes of the P200 and P300 groups and the effect of the P300 peak on latency were significant. The relationships between the clinical scale scores and the amplitude and latency values were mostly obtained for the distracting stimuli. Furthermore, the anxiety and depression scores obtained using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), as well as the lie and infrequency scale scores; were found to correlate with the total score from the ADD/ADHD Scale. These main results showed that a multi-technological bio-psychological approach involving the use of neuropsychological tasks that allow the observation of electrical activity in the brain during the evaluation of ADHD symptoms and personality introduces new perspectives and interpretations.