Severity of craving is related with severity of adult ADHD symptoms among inpatients with alcohol use disorder

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate relationship of craving severity with severity of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in a sample of inpatients with alcohol use disorder, while controlling the effects of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Methods: Participants included 78 inpatients with alcohol use disorder. Participants were evaluated with the Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS), the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) after a detoxification period of three to four weeks. Results: Although trait anxiety predicted OCDS score, trait anxiety was no longer a predictor after entering ASRS-18 score and the ASRS-18 score was the only predictor for severity of craving in linear regression analyses. Results for the ASRS-6 were the same. Among subscales of ASRS-18 inattentive score predicted OCDS score. When obsessive and compulsive dimensions of craving were taken as dependent variables, ASRS-18/ASRS-6 predicted obsessive craving score together with the trait anxiety, whereas ASRS-18/ASRS-6 predicted compulsive craving alone. Conclusion: These findings suggest that severity of ADHD symptoms (particularly inattentive symptoms) is related with severity of the craving. Although ADHD symptoms predicted compulsive craving alone, it predicted obsessive craving together with the trait anxiety. Also ASRS-18 and ASRS-6 showed similar results, suggesting that ASRS-6 with much less items can be used among this population for screening ADHD symptoms.