Open AccessCreativity in the Predominantly Inattentive and Combined Presentations of ADHD in Adults
Author(s) -
Olivier Girard-Joyal,
Bruno Gauthier
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of attention disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.076
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1557-1246
pISSN - 1087-0547
DOI - 10.1177/10870547211060547
Subject(s) - creativity , psychology , torrance tests of creative thinking , stroop effect , developmental psychology , rating scale , clinical psychology , test (biology) , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , creative thinking , psychiatry , cognition , social psychology , paleontology , biology
Objective: ADHD and its associated inhibition deficits might promote creativity. However, results in the literature are conflicting, possibly due to the heterogeneity of ADHD. To control for this heterogeneity, creativity, and inhibition were investigated in the predominantly inattentive (ADHD-I) and combined (ADHD-C) presentations. Method: Participants were males/females aged 18 to 51, diagnosed with ADHD-I ( n = 21), ADHD-C ( n = 19), or without ADHD ( n = 43). Self-rated Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale and evaluator-rated figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) were used for measuring creativity, Stroop task for inhibition, and Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales for ADHD symptoms. Results: The ADHD-C group reported higher self-rated creativity than other groups and made more original drawings paired to more abstract titles in the figural TTCT than controls. Conclusion: ADHD-C participants were the most creative. This result was more importantly associated with higher degrees of ADHD symptoms rather than poorer inhibition.