背景:在研究行为异常时,经常忽略患有注意力缺陷/多动障碍(ADHD)的成年人症状学的性别差异。然而,众所周知,女性比男性表现出更强的与情感能力相关的症状。由于情感函数显著影响风险决策和风险参与的处理,我们假设ADHD患者的危险行为受到性别差异的影响.因此,我们专门研究了性别对情感诱导的生理变化和决策任务行为表现之间相互作用的影响.
方法:29名ADHD成人(n=16男性;n=13女性)和33名对照组成人(n=14男性;n=19女性)的皮肤电导反应记录在气球模拟风险任务(BART)的修改版本中。使用额外的问卷来揭示情绪能力自我评估中的见解,风险感知,和反馈灵敏度。使用线性混合效应模型分析了情绪唤醒和决策行为。
结果:结果显示,性别对对照组和ADHD的危险行为有不同的影响。与健康对照相比,与患有ADHD的男性相比,患有ADHD的女性成年人在BART中的风险明显更高。在皮肤电导反应中未观察到这种相反的性别关系,并且揭示了ADHD中身体反应和行为任务表现之间的性别依赖性相关性。与自我评估结果的比较还表明,多动症女性的行为自我感知降低,但不是男人。
结论:总之,我们发现多动症女性的生理活动和危险行为之间的相互作用发生了改变.因此,本研究表明,多动症女性对自身身体反应的敏感性降低,这可能导致日常生活中危险的DM行为增加。目前的结果表明,需要更多地考虑性别对ADHD成人生理过程和行为的影响。
BACKGROUND: Sex differences in the symptomatology of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have often been overlooked when studying behavioral abnormalities. However, it is known that women exhibit considerably more stronger symptoms related to emotional competence than men. Since affective functions significantly influence the processing of risky decision-making and risk-engagement, we assume that risky behavior in ADHD is affected by sex differences. Therefore, we specifically investigated sex-specific effects on the interaction between emotionally induced changes in physiology and behavioral performance on a decision-making task.
METHODS: Skin conductance responses of twenty-nine adults with ADHD (n = 16 male; n = 13 female) and thirty-three adults in the control group (n = 14 male; n = 19 female) were recorded during the performance in a modified version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Additional questionnaires were used to reveal insights in the self-assessment of emotional competence, risk perception, and feedback sensitivity. Emotional arousal and decision-making behavior were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models.
RESULTS: Results showed different effects of sex on risk behaviors in controls and ADHD. In contrast to healthy controls, female adults with ADHD showed a significantly greater risk engagement in the BART compared to males with ADHD. This contrary sex relation was not observed in skin conductance responses and revealed a significantly different sex-dependent correlation of body response and behavioral task performance in ADHD. Comparisons with results from self-assessments furthermore indicate a reduced behavioral self-perception in women with ADHD, but not in men.
CONCLUSIONS: In summary, we found an altered interaction between physiological activity and risky behavior in women with ADHD. Thus, the present study indicates a reduced sensitivity towards the own bodily responses in women with ADHD, which could consequently cause increased risky DM behavior in daily life. The current results suggest that more consideration needs to be given to sex-specific effects on physiological processes and behavior in adults with ADHD.