Impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adults

Purpose: Impulsivity is a common cognitive issue across several psychiatric illnesses but is most frequently associated with the DSM-5 Disruptive, Impulse Control and Conduct Disorders, ADHD, and addictive disorders. We hypothesized that a wide range of psychiatric disorders would be associated with...

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Main Authors: Zharia C. Crisp, Jon E. Grant
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-04-01
Series:Comprehensive Psychiatry
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010440X2300086X
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author Zharia C. Crisp
Jon E. Grant
author_facet Zharia C. Crisp
Jon E. Grant
author_sort Zharia C. Crisp
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: Impulsivity is a common cognitive issue across several psychiatric illnesses but is most frequently associated with the DSM-5 Disruptive, Impulse Control and Conduct Disorders, ADHD, and addictive disorders. We hypothesized that a wide range of psychiatric disorders would be associated with elevated impulsivity, not just those commonly linked to impulsiveness. This study aimed to explore the relationship between impulsivity and various psychiatric disorders in young adults. Procedures: 700 non-treatment seeking participants (aged 18–29 years) were enrolled from the general community, provided demographic information, and underwent a psychiatric evaluation to screen for various psychiatric disorders. Each participant then completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), a self-report measure of impulsivity, followed by the Stop Signal Task (SST), a computerized stop-attention task that measures impulse control. Impulsivity levels across psychiatric disorders were examined by analyzing z-scores relative to controls. Main findings: Patients with bulimia nervosa, comorbid panic disorder with agoraphobia, and borderline personality disorder showed the highest levels of attentional, motor, and non-planning impulsivity, respectively. The effect size of the difference in total BIS impulsivity was large (d > 0.8) for several conditions including eating, personality, addictive, and mood disorders. The effect size of the difference in impulsivity was not large for any of the measures of ADHD. As compared to other psychiatric disorders analyzed, trichotillomania showed the greatest levels of impulsivity as measured by SST. Principal conclusions: This data indicates that a wide range of psychiatric disorders exhibit heightened impulsivity with findings differing across various cognitive domains. Comorbidity resulted in unique findings of elevated impulsivity. This may suggest utility in viewing impulsivity as a transdiagnostic factor for a broad range of psychiatric disorders. Future studies should analyze comorbidities and whether patient psychiatric medication impacts these findings.
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spelling doaj.art-31390f5d1f00465290511938f85bf9f82024-02-15T05:22:49ZengElsevierComprehensive Psychiatry0010-440X2024-04-01130152449Impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adultsZharia C. Crisp0Jon E. Grant1Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USADepartment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Corresponding author.Purpose: Impulsivity is a common cognitive issue across several psychiatric illnesses but is most frequently associated with the DSM-5 Disruptive, Impulse Control and Conduct Disorders, ADHD, and addictive disorders. We hypothesized that a wide range of psychiatric disorders would be associated with elevated impulsivity, not just those commonly linked to impulsiveness. This study aimed to explore the relationship between impulsivity and various psychiatric disorders in young adults. Procedures: 700 non-treatment seeking participants (aged 18–29 years) were enrolled from the general community, provided demographic information, and underwent a psychiatric evaluation to screen for various psychiatric disorders. Each participant then completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), a self-report measure of impulsivity, followed by the Stop Signal Task (SST), a computerized stop-attention task that measures impulse control. Impulsivity levels across psychiatric disorders were examined by analyzing z-scores relative to controls. Main findings: Patients with bulimia nervosa, comorbid panic disorder with agoraphobia, and borderline personality disorder showed the highest levels of attentional, motor, and non-planning impulsivity, respectively. The effect size of the difference in total BIS impulsivity was large (d > 0.8) for several conditions including eating, personality, addictive, and mood disorders. The effect size of the difference in impulsivity was not large for any of the measures of ADHD. As compared to other psychiatric disorders analyzed, trichotillomania showed the greatest levels of impulsivity as measured by SST. Principal conclusions: This data indicates that a wide range of psychiatric disorders exhibit heightened impulsivity with findings differing across various cognitive domains. Comorbidity resulted in unique findings of elevated impulsivity. This may suggest utility in viewing impulsivity as a transdiagnostic factor for a broad range of psychiatric disorders. Future studies should analyze comorbidities and whether patient psychiatric medication impacts these findings.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010440X2300086Ximpulsivitytransdiagnosticyoung adultscognition
spellingShingle Zharia C. Crisp
Jon E. Grant
Impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adults
Comprehensive Psychiatry
impulsivity
transdiagnostic
young adults
cognition
title Impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adults
title_full Impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adults
title_fullStr Impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adults
title_full_unstemmed Impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adults
title_short Impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adults
title_sort impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adults
topic impulsivity
transdiagnostic
young adults
cognition
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010440X2300086X
work_keys_str_mv AT zhariaccrisp impulsivityacrosspsychiatricdisordersinyoungadults
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