Investigating the associations between emotional regulation difficulties and ADHD dimensions, this study employs network analysis to examine the interrelations among emotional regulation dimensions (as measured by the Emotional Regulation Strategies-36; DERS-36), affect lability (assessed using the Affect Lability Scale-18; ALS-18) and ADHD dimensions (Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity, based on the Current Symptom Scale; CSS). Reflecting on the complexity of ADHD, this research contributes to the emerging discourse on the potential inclusion of emotional regulation difficulties within the ADHD diagnostic criteria, particularly in adult populations. A total of 532 adults n man = 144; women = 388; mean age (SD) = 32.98 years (12.97 years) from the general community were assessed. The network findings showed that the two highest values for strength centrality were DERS-36 strategies and ALS-18 depression. Within the DERS-36, ALS-18, and ADHD dimensions, 33%, 100%, and 11.11% of edges, respectively, were non-zero after regularisation, indicating significant connections, especially with Inattention. For edges involving the ADHD dimensions, only ALS-18 depression and DERS-36 goal showed non-zero unique associations with IA. This study is the first to examine DERS-36 and ALS-18 subdimensions alongside the three ADHD dimensions within a regularised partial correlation network. The results indicate that only a small number of emotion-related dimensions show direct associations with ADHD dimensions, suggesting selective rather than widespread associations among these constructs.
Gomez et al. (Mon,) studied this question.