The evaluation of emotional stimulation profiles and autistic symptom features in children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder before and after treatment

In this study, the diagnosis and comorbidity assessment of children presenting with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) complaints and symptoms, and evaluation of the characteristics of children diagnosed with ADHD with different data collection tools, evaluation of autistic symptom features and objective autonomic nervous system responses to emotional stimuli It was planned to evaluate children with ADHD before and after the treatment. Our study was conducted with 46 ADHD and 43 healthy volunteers matched in terms of age and gender. Patient group; between the ages of 9-12, who applied to Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic for the first time. The first diagnosis of ADHD patients who had not been diagnosed with ADHD before and who had not received any treatment was chosen among ADHD patients. ADHD diagnosis to patients; psychiatric examination in interviews with the patient and family and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Form (K-SAD-PL) DSM-5 semi-structured interview, Moxo attention test, conners teacher and parent assessment scales, The sociodemographic data form created by the researchers was evaluated and placed. In addition, the intelligence levels of the patients were evaluated by performing the WISC-R test on a different day. After ADHD diagnosis; The autism spectrum screening scale for children between the ages of 6 and 18 completed by their parents was evaluated. Reaction times of all participants were measured and electrodermal activity (EDA) measurements were made. During physiological measurements, children were shown 13 pictures containing 6 main emotions (sad, confused, angry, happy, scared, disgusted) selected from the e Non-Verbal Tips Perception Skills (NVTPS) Test, and emotional stimulus was provided. In our study, it was observed that children diagnosed with ADHD had more autistic symptom characteristics, their reaction times were longer, their ability to recognize emotions and their electrodermal response to emotional stimuli were not much different from the control group. In addition, it was found that children who received ADHD treatment had a significant decrease in scale scores compared to before treatment, but there was still a significant difference in healthy children when compared with healthy children.