Assessment of Alexithymia in Portuguese Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Avaliação da Alexitimia em Crianças Portuguesas com Perturbação de Hiperatividade/Défice de Atenção

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Various studies have demonstrated the existence of impairment in emotional processing in children with at-tention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, there are few studies regarding the association between alexithymia and ADHD, both in adults and children, and none in the Portuguese population.

METHODS: The accidental sample included 50 children who had been previously diagnosed with ADHD and were undergoing treatment, as well as 51 healthy children without ADHD, aged 8 to 17. To assess alexithymia, the Portuguese version of the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children was used.

RESULTS: Comparing the two groups, there were no significant differences in any of the three factors-difficulty in identifying feelings, difficulty in describing feelings and externally oriented thinking, or in the total score.

DISCUSSION: In our study, children with ADHD who were undergoing pharmacological treatment and psychotherapy had alexithymia scores similar to those in the control group.

CONCLUSION: Our study intends to reinforce the importance of emotional processing evaluation in ADHD and its relationship with therapeutic interventions, opening the door for further insight into this issue.