The impact of childhood deprivation on adult neuropsychological functioning is associated with ADHD symptom persistence

Dennis Golm; Sagari Sarkar; Nuria K. MacKes; Graeme Fairchild; Mitul A. Mehta; Michael Rutter; Edmund J. Sonuga-Barke

doi:10.1017/S0033291720001294

The impact of childhood deprivation on adult neuropsychological functioning is associated with ADHD symptom persistence

Dennis Golm, Sagari Sarkar, Nuria K. MacKes, Graeme Fairchild, Mitul A. Mehta, Michael Rutter, Edmund J. Sonuga-Barke^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BackgroundInstitutional deprivation in early childhood is associated with neuropsychological deficits in adolescence. Using 20-year follow-up data from a unique natural experiment-the large-scale adoption of children exposed to extreme deprivation in Romanian institutions in the 1980s-we examined, for the first time, whether such deficits are still present in adulthood and whether they are associated with deprivation-related symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).MethodsAdult neuropsychological functioning was assessed across five domains (inhibitory control, emotion recognition, decision-making, prospective memory and IQ) in 70 previously institutionalized adoptees (mean age = 25.3, 50% female) and 22 non-deprived UK adoptees (comparison group, mean age = 24.6, 41% female). ADHD and ASD symptoms were assessed using parent-completed questionnaires.ResultsEarly institutionalization was associated with impaired performance on all tasks in adulthood. Prospective memory deficits persisted after controlling for IQ. ADHD and ASD symptoms were positively correlated. After controlling for ASD symptoms, ADHD symptoms remained associated with deficits in IQ, prospective memory, proactive inhibition, decision-making quality and emotion recognition. ASD symptoms were not independently associated with neuropsychological deficits when accounting for their overlap with ADHD symptoms. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the link between childhood deprivation and adult ADHD symptoms was statistically explained by deprivation-related differences in adult IQ and prospective memory.ConclusionsThese results represent some of the most compelling evidence to date of the enduring power of early, time-limited childhood adversity to impair long-term neuropsychological functioning across the lifespan-effects that are linked specifically to deprivation-related adult ADHD symptoms.

Original language	English
Journal	Psychological Medicine
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720001294
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 1 Jan 2020

Keywords

ADHD
childhood neglect
institutional deprivation
maltreatment
prospective memory

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1017/S0033291720001294

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@article{62858659546941ee9b5be4f113881b60,

title = "The impact of childhood deprivation on adult neuropsychological functioning is associated with ADHD symptom persistence",

abstract = "BackgroundInstitutional deprivation in early childhood is associated with neuropsychological deficits in adolescence. Using 20-year follow-up data from a unique natural experiment-the large-scale adoption of children exposed to extreme deprivation in Romanian institutions in the 1980s-we examined, for the first time, whether such deficits are still present in adulthood and whether they are associated with deprivation-related symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).MethodsAdult neuropsychological functioning was assessed across five domains (inhibitory control, emotion recognition, decision-making, prospective memory and IQ) in 70 previously institutionalized adoptees (mean age = 25.3, 50% female) and 22 non-deprived UK adoptees (comparison group, mean age = 24.6, 41% female). ADHD and ASD symptoms were assessed using parent-completed questionnaires.ResultsEarly institutionalization was associated with impaired performance on all tasks in adulthood. Prospective memory deficits persisted after controlling for IQ. ADHD and ASD symptoms were positively correlated. After controlling for ASD symptoms, ADHD symptoms remained associated with deficits in IQ, prospective memory, proactive inhibition, decision-making quality and emotion recognition. ASD symptoms were not independently associated with neuropsychological deficits when accounting for their overlap with ADHD symptoms. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the link between childhood deprivation and adult ADHD symptoms was statistically explained by deprivation-related differences in adult IQ and prospective memory.ConclusionsThese results represent some of the most compelling evidence to date of the enduring power of early, time-limited childhood adversity to impair long-term neuropsychological functioning across the lifespan-effects that are linked specifically to deprivation-related adult ADHD symptoms.",

keywords = "ADHD, childhood neglect, institutional deprivation, maltreatment, prospective memory",

author = "Dennis Golm and Sagari Sarkar and MacKes, {Nuria K.} and Graeme Fairchild and Mehta, {Mitul A.} and Michael Rutter and Sonuga-Barke, {Edmund J.}",

year = "2020",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1017/S0033291720001294",

language = "English",

journal = "Psychological Medicine",

issn = "0033-2917",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

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T1 - The impact of childhood deprivation on adult neuropsychological functioning is associated with ADHD symptom persistence

AU - Golm, Dennis

AU - Sarkar, Sagari

AU - MacKes, Nuria K.

AU - Fairchild, Graeme

AU - Mehta, Mitul A.

AU - Rutter, Michael

AU - Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J.

PY - 2020/1/1

Y1 - 2020/1/1

N2 - BackgroundInstitutional deprivation in early childhood is associated with neuropsychological deficits in adolescence. Using 20-year follow-up data from a unique natural experiment-the large-scale adoption of children exposed to extreme deprivation in Romanian institutions in the 1980s-we examined, for the first time, whether such deficits are still present in adulthood and whether they are associated with deprivation-related symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).MethodsAdult neuropsychological functioning was assessed across five domains (inhibitory control, emotion recognition, decision-making, prospective memory and IQ) in 70 previously institutionalized adoptees (mean age = 25.3, 50% female) and 22 non-deprived UK adoptees (comparison group, mean age = 24.6, 41% female). ADHD and ASD symptoms were assessed using parent-completed questionnaires.ResultsEarly institutionalization was associated with impaired performance on all tasks in adulthood. Prospective memory deficits persisted after controlling for IQ. ADHD and ASD symptoms were positively correlated. After controlling for ASD symptoms, ADHD symptoms remained associated with deficits in IQ, prospective memory, proactive inhibition, decision-making quality and emotion recognition. ASD symptoms were not independently associated with neuropsychological deficits when accounting for their overlap with ADHD symptoms. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the link between childhood deprivation and adult ADHD symptoms was statistically explained by deprivation-related differences in adult IQ and prospective memory.ConclusionsThese results represent some of the most compelling evidence to date of the enduring power of early, time-limited childhood adversity to impair long-term neuropsychological functioning across the lifespan-effects that are linked specifically to deprivation-related adult ADHD symptoms.

AB - BackgroundInstitutional deprivation in early childhood is associated with neuropsychological deficits in adolescence. Using 20-year follow-up data from a unique natural experiment-the large-scale adoption of children exposed to extreme deprivation in Romanian institutions in the 1980s-we examined, for the first time, whether such deficits are still present in adulthood and whether they are associated with deprivation-related symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).MethodsAdult neuropsychological functioning was assessed across five domains (inhibitory control, emotion recognition, decision-making, prospective memory and IQ) in 70 previously institutionalized adoptees (mean age = 25.3, 50% female) and 22 non-deprived UK adoptees (comparison group, mean age = 24.6, 41% female). ADHD and ASD symptoms were assessed using parent-completed questionnaires.ResultsEarly institutionalization was associated with impaired performance on all tasks in adulthood. Prospective memory deficits persisted after controlling for IQ. ADHD and ASD symptoms were positively correlated. After controlling for ASD symptoms, ADHD symptoms remained associated with deficits in IQ, prospective memory, proactive inhibition, decision-making quality and emotion recognition. ASD symptoms were not independently associated with neuropsychological deficits when accounting for their overlap with ADHD symptoms. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the link between childhood deprivation and adult ADHD symptoms was statistically explained by deprivation-related differences in adult IQ and prospective memory.ConclusionsThese results represent some of the most compelling evidence to date of the enduring power of early, time-limited childhood adversity to impair long-term neuropsychological functioning across the lifespan-effects that are linked specifically to deprivation-related adult ADHD symptoms.

KW - ADHD

KW - childhood neglect

KW - institutional deprivation

KW - maltreatment

KW - prospective memory

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DO - 10.1017/S0033291720001294

M3 - Article

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SN - 0033-2917

JO - Psychological Medicine

JF - Psychological Medicine

ER -

The impact of childhood deprivation on adult neuropsychological functioning is associated with ADHD symptom persistence

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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