Managing emotional self-regulation deficits in adults with ADHD

Project overview

Emotion dysregulation has recently been proposed as a fourth core feature in the conceptualisation and psychopathology of ADHD and has been linked to maladaptive use of emotion regulation coping strategies, or an inability to choose the most appropriate strategy for achieving goals.

Emotion dysregulation research on ADHD has focused primarily on the dysregulation of negative emotions, but there is recent growing evidence in children and adolescents that they also struggle regulating positive emotions. However, research on adult ADHD populations remains limited, and more work is needed to identify the experience of emotion dysregulation for both positive and negative emotions and how these relate to the selection of coping responses.

This project aims to address this gap by examining how adults with and without ADHD experience emotional dysregulation, and how these relate to their coping responses. Initial findings will extend our understanding and conceptualisation of emotional dysregulation in adults with ADHD and may inform the development of targeted intervention strategies. The aim is to then develop an emotion dysregulation scale over a series of studies.