Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Borderline Personality Disorder In Adults: A Review Of Their Links And Risks

Figures & data

Table 1 Keypoints And Suggested Directions For Research

Adult ADHD and BPD are heterogeneous disorders that can no longer be viewed as purely early-onset neurodevelopmental (ADHD) or late-onset psychological disorders (BPD)

Comorbid adult ADHD+BPD is frequent in clinical settings (16.1–38% of BPD patients)

The ADHD+BPD form is characterized by a more severe clinical presentation, i.e., higher trait-impulsiveness compared to BPD alone, and higher emotion dysregulation compared to ADHD alone

Pathogenesis of ADHD and BPD involves some shared genetic, temperamental and environmental vulnerability factors, including childhood adversity

Screening tools lack discriminative power in clinical settings, probably due to the shared symptomatic expressions between ADHD and BPD (e.g., emotion dysregulation and impulsiveness)

Research is needed:

To prospectively assess whether and how childhood ADHD symptoms increase the risk for BPD in adults

To determine how the timing and the type of childhood adversity might differentially impact the development of ADHD, BPD, and ADHD+BPD in genetically susceptible individuals

To identify children and adolescents at risk for the development of adult ADHD, BPD, and ADHD+BPD in order to design effective early interventions

To assess the effectiveness of pharmacological and psychological interventions for comorbid cases