Assessment of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder using the Rorschach test

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the personality characteristics and functioning of individuals with Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) using the Rorschach Inkblot Method. Although the effects of ADHD on neuropsychological processes have been widely investigated in the literature, studies focusing on the personality functioning of adults with ADHD are limited. This research aims to evaluate the effects of ADHD on personality development and functioning within a psychoanalytic framework. In this context, personality traits such as investment in thought processes, affective processes, impulse control and emotional responses, social adaptation, and object relations were examined. The study was conducted in accordance with the key areas proposed by Exner and Chabert in their Rorschach analysis. Method: Our study group consists of 15 patients who visited the psychiatry clinic between October 2023 and April 2024. These patients were diagnosed with Adult ADHD according to DSM-V diagnostic criteria. The control group consists of 15 participants. These participants were evaluated as non-ADHD based on the personal information form and test values. Participants completed the Demographic Information Form developed by the researcher, the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Scale, the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Rorschach Test. Participants who did not meet the study criteria were excluded based on the data obtained from the assessment scales. The Rorschach data of the included sample were digitized and analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test with SPSS 25 due to the small sample size. Results: In the ADHD group, responses on the Rorschach Test indicating investment in thought and connection to reality (R, Dd), anxiety and depressive sensitivity (E), difficulties with impulsivity, emotional control, and environmental adaptation (FC, ∑K), and poor interpersonal skills and challenges in adhering to social norms (K-, Kan) significantly differed from the control group's responses (p<.05). Additionally, the Rorschach content in adults with ADHD confirms that the components corresponding to various areas of personality structure differ. In the study, responses in adults with ADHD have been associated with fragility of internal and external boundaries, intense aggression impulses involving tendencies to harm and destroy objects, weaknesses in body image integration, vulnerabilities related to secondary sexual characteristics, and disruptions in interpersonal relationships. Conclusion: As a result of our study, adults with ADHD exhibit impairments in emotional regulation processes, weak impulse control in the face of high impulsivity, and difficulties in social adaptation.