Comparison of Alexithymia in Individuals with and without Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder

The main objective of this research was to compare Alexithymia features in individuals with and without Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
The Method of study was expo-facto and the statistical population included all students of University of Tehran. Conners’Adult Rating Scales (CAARS) was used to screen 580 students in terms of Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In the second stage, 40 participants who gained the highest scored (i.e. in Conners’ scales) were invited to clinical interview. The diagnostic interview based on Utah Rating Scale (DSM-5) was conducted by a psychiatrist to diagnose ADHD. 10 patients out of the total40 individuals who have been invited to the interview, were excluded according to the psychiatric diagnosis. At the end, two groups of 30 people (30= patients, 30= normal) were compared together by using Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS).
The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed that scores of people with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in components of alexithymia contains;difficulty in identifying and describing feelings was significantly higher than normal populationbut there was no significant difference in externally oriented thinking.
Based on the findings of this study, it can be concludedpeople with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have some features of alexithymia and in emotional responses are inferiority. Therefore, attention to the emotional issues of people with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder is more important than the past.