Alexithymia among Children with ADHD: A Conceptual Review

Description

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22305201

Veenus K. P. and R. Nithya (Department of Psychology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder among children. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with significant impairments in emotional functioning in addition to difficulties in attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Alexithymia is an important emotional construct linked to ADHD and refers to difficulties in identifying, understanding, and expressing emotions, along with an externally oriented thinking style and limited imaginative processes. Children with ADHD often experience emotional dysregulation, poor emotional awareness, impulsive emotional reactions, and interpersonal difficulties, which may contribute to alexithymia. This conceptual review examines the relationship between alexithymia and ADHD in children by exploring its features, contributing factors, neuropsychological basis, assessment methods, interventions, challenges, and research implications. Existing studies show that children with ADHD have greater difficulty identifying and describing emotions compared to typically developing peers. Emotional dysregulation, executive functioning deficits, parent-child relational difficulties, and social challenges appear to play important roles in the development of alexithymic characteristics. In addition to this, the review emphasizes the need to evaluate emotional functioning in children with ADHD, intervention strategies focused on improving emotional awareness, expression and regulation.