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Efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy in medicated adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in multiple dimensions: a randomised controlled trial

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Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of group cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in medicated adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with a multidimensional evaluation and follow-up to week 36. Ninety-eight adult ADHD were randomly allocated to the CBT combined with medication (CBT + M) group or the medication (M) only group. The primary endpoint was the ADHD–Rating Scale (ADHD-RS). Secondary endpoints included emotional symptoms, self-esteem, automatic thoughts, quality of life (QoL), and executive function (EF). The outcome measures were obtained at baseline (T1), after the 12-week CBT treatment (T2), and at two follow-up time points (week 24, T3, and week 36, T4). Compared to the M-only group, the patients in the CBT + M group showed an overall significantly greater reduction from baseline in ADHD core symptoms (ADHD-RS total score at T3, and inattention subscale at T2 and T3), depression and anxiety symptoms (T2–T4), state anxiety (T2 and T3) and trait anxiety (T2), automatic thoughts questionnaire at T3, and QoL (physical domain, psychological domain, and social domain, most significant at T3 and weakened at T4). These findings further confirmed the efficacy of CBT on multiple dimensions and verified improvements in automatic thinking in adult ADHD. The superiority of the combination treatment mainly manifested in reduced inattention, emotional symptoms, and maladaptive thoughts and improved QoL. Trial registration number ChiCTR1900021705 (March-05-2019).

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Funding

This work was supported by the Capital’s Funds for Health Improvement and Research (CFH 2020-2-4112; CFH 2016-2-4113), the National Science Foundation of China (81571340), the National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 program 2014CB846104).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, Beijing, 100191, China

    Mei-Rong Pan, Shi-Yu Zhang, Sun-Wei Qiu, Lu Liu, Hai-Mei Li, Meng-Jie Zhao, Min Dong, Fei-Fei Si, Yu-Feng Wang & Qiu-Jin Qian

  2. NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, 100191, China

    Mei-Rong Pan, Shi-Yu Zhang, Sun-Wei Qiu, Lu Liu, Hai-Mei Li, Meng-Jie Zhao, Min Dong, Fei-Fei Si, Yu-Feng Wang & Qiu-Jin Qian

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  1. Mei-Rong Pan
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  2. Shi-Yu Zhang
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  3. Sun-Wei Qiu
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  4. Lu Liu
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  5. Hai-Mei Li
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  7. Min Dong
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  8. Fei-Fei Si
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  9. Yu-Feng Wang
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  10. Qiu-Jin Qian
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qiu-Jin Qian.

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Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This trial has been approved by the Ethics and Clinical Research Committees of Peking University Sixth Hospital [(2018) Ethics review number (41)] and will be performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki with the Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act (WMO).

Informed consent

Participants have been properly informed about the study characteristics and objectives previously to study inclusion, and all participants signed informed consent forms.

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The patient described in the manuscript has given written consent for publication.

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Pan, MR., Zhang, SY., Qiu, SW. et al. Efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy in medicated adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in multiple dimensions: a randomised controlled trial. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 272, 235–255 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-021-01236-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-021-01236-0

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