Are eating disorder symptoms associated with cognitive exibility in adults diagnosed with ADHD?

10th World Congress on ADHD, Praha, Çek Cumhuriyeti, 8 - 11 Mayıs 2025, ss.132, (Özet Bildiri)

ADHD symptoms in adults often co-occur with mood and eating disorders(EDs), sharing traits

like emotional dysregulation, which suggests overlapping mechanisms. Cognitive flexibility,

essential for adapting to change, may underlie this relationship. This study explores the

association between ED symptoms and cognitive flexibility in adults with ADHD.

Method:

This study included 76 adults with ADHD (mean age: 23.28±4.64) and 69 healthy controls (mean

age: 23.08±3.56) from Ankara University Psychiatry Department. Participants completed the

Wender-Reimherr Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Scale(WRADDS), Wender Utah Rating Scale

(WURS), Emotional Eater Questionnaire(EEQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Cognitive

Control and Flexibility Questionnaire(CCFQ), and Berg’s Card Sorting Test.

Discussion:

The ADHD group showed significantly higher EEQ scores (ADHD:15.44±7.62, controls:

9.21±6.26,t=5.39, p=0.00). Emotional eating was correlated with WRAADDS-inattention (r=0.34,

p<0.01), emotional dysregulation (r=0.24, p<0.05), and CCFQ-Cognitive control over emotion

(r=-0.24, p < 0.05). Regression analysis identified adult inattention as the sole significant

predictor of ED symptoms in the ADHD group.

Conclusion:

As anticipated, cognitive flexibility was impaired in the ADHD group. Cognitive flexibility

influences the ADHD-ED relationship, with WRAADDS-Inattention as the sole predictor of EEQ

scores, linking impaired frontal cortex function to ED. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify

these dynamics and guide interventions.