Dispositional Trait Types of ADHD in Young Children

Objective: This study evaluated a novel person-centered approach to parsing ADHD heterogeneity using dispositional traits. Method: Participants were one hundred nine 3- to 6-year-olds, and their primary caregivers and day care providers/teachers who completed a multi-informant diagnostic procedure with longitudinal follow-up. Results: Based on latent profile analysis, young children with ADHD could be divided into low control, high surgency, and high negative affect subgroups. The low control and high surgency groups exhibited increased parent- and teacher-rated hyperactive-impulsive and oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms. Although the low control group exhibited the worst response inhibition, the high surgency group exhibited the worst working memory. Furthermore, the high surgency group exhibited high aggression and increasing levels of hyperactivity-impulsivity and ODD symptoms over time. Conclusion: A subgroup of young children with ADHD with high surgency may be at particular risk for comorbid psychopathology and longitudinal worsening of symptoms.