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Individual differences, ADHD, Adult Pathological Demand Avoidance and delinquency

In this paper, Egan et al looked at a range of different characteristics of a group of adults to analyse how PDA might fit with other described conditions. They used the EDA-Q developed in their previous work as a self-report tool for adults (EDA-QA; Egan et al 2018) and invited adults who identified themselves as having PDA to complete it and a number of other surveys including personality traits. As a forensic psychology department, they were interested to learn more about the construct and how it might relate to the potential for criminal behaviour, or ‘delinquency’.

The results showed that for community adult populations, self-reported individual differences in ADHD, emotional instability, and antagonism appear to better predict the PDA than ASD. They went on to suggest that the association PDA has with delinquency may reflect these constructs, which are also correlates of offending.

The results are interesting and appear to be a challenge to clinical experience. The EDA-Q is known to capture those who are extremely demand avoidant for a range of reasons, so to repeat this work within a clinical cohort would be a useful next step.

Authors: Vincent Egan, Elinor Bull, and Grace Trundle

Published: Research in Developmental Disabilities, October 2020