Rumination and disinhibited eating behaviours in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder often display emotion dysregulation and are also suggested to be more prone to being overweight than their neurotypical peers. However, there has been limited research addressing eating behaviours in adults with ADHD. The research aimed to explore the eating behaviours of adults with ADHD, including the relationships with emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression, in comparison with an age matched control group. Ninety-nine adults with ADHD (M=37.77; SD 9.69) and one hundred age matched adults without ADHD, completed an online survey of the following measures: Adult ADHD Self-report Scale, Adult Eating Behaviours Questionnaire, The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Beck’s Depression Inventory. The results showed that adults with ADHD showed significantly more emotional overeating, susceptibility to hunger and food responsivity, compared to adults without a clinical diagnosis. Importantly, the adults with ADHD were more likely to use maladaptive emotion regulation strategies than the control group who had no diagnosis of ADHD, with rumination and self-blame found to underlie these eating behaviours in the ADHD group. Mediation models revealed rumination and self-blame mediated the relationship between ADHD and hunger, and ADHD and food responsivity. Therefore, rumination may help to differentiate hunger and food responsivity between the groups. In conclusion, negative emotions and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies play a role in the onset and maintenance of unhealthy eating behaviours. The findings here suggest that emotion regulation deficits may make those with ADHD more vulnerable to developing greater food approach tendencies