Perceived Expressed Emotion and Irritability in Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder Inattentive Type The Moderating Effect of Subtype

The current study aimed to investigate perceived expressed emotion (EE) and irritability among adolescents with inattentive and combined type attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD-I and ADHD-C, respectively), and to assess whether the subtype plays a moderating role in the relationship between perceived EE and irritability. The current cross-sectional, case-control study comprised 37 adolescents with ADHD-I, 62 adolescents with ADHD-C, and 58 age-and sex-matched adolescents without ADHD. After controlling for confounding factors, adolescents with ADHD-C were found to exhibit significantly higher levels of perceived lack of emotional support than adolescents with ADHD-I (p = 0.029). Results of moderation analysis showed ADHD subtype to be a moderating factor in the relationship between perceived EE and irritability.