Exploratory Symptom Profiles and Clinical Correlates in Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Retrospective Study Using the Wender-Reimherr Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Scale

In a single specialized outpatient clinic sample of 749 adults with ADHD, latent class analysis of WRAADDS items retained a six-class solution, with 60.9% assigned to ED-related classes.

• Why it matters: Emotional dysregulation is clinically relevant in adult ADHD, yet its link to clinical burden is not well mapped, including how symptom patterns relate to distress, depression, and impairment.
• What they did: The study used latent class analysis on 28 clinician-rated WRAADDS items, then grouped classes with elevated probabilities in temper, affective lability, and emotional overreactivity into an exploratory ADHD+ED group. Sensitivity analyses tested alternative groupings and adjustment for core ADHD symptom severity.
• The result: The exploratory ADHD+ED group had greater psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and functional impairment, and these differences persisted after adjustment; some CAARS subscale differences also remained, while broader self-report scores, comorbidity counts, and alcohol/sociodemographic measures did not.

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