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. 2025 Feb 27:16:1446970.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1446970. eCollection 2025.

Gender differences in ADHD and impulsivity among alcohol or alcohol- and cocaine-dependent patients

Carlos Roncero  1   2   3   4 , Diego Remón-Gallo  2   3   4 , LLanyra García-Ullán  2   3   4   5 , Begoña Vicente-Hernández  2   3   4   5 , Barbara Buch-Vicente  4   6 , Raul Felipe Palma-Álvarez  7   8   9   10 , Lara Grau-López  7   8   9   10 , Kristofer Ramon González-Bolaños  5 , Ana Álvarez-Navares  2   3   4   5 , Jésus Pérez  2   3   4   5 , Lourdes Aguilar  2   3   4   5
Affiliations

Gender differences in ADHD and impulsivity among alcohol or alcohol- and cocaine-dependent patients

Carlos Roncero et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Impulsivity plays a fundamental role in the realm of addiction as is considered a risk factor for addiction. Moreover, it influences the age of onset, severity, and therapeutic management of addictions. The aim of this study was to explore measures of impulsivity in a cohort of male and female diagnosed with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and contrast these findings with those from a group with Alcohol and Cocaine Use Disorder (ACUD).

Methodology: A total of 204 patients (153 men and 51 women) underwent evaluation using Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS), Barrat Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).

Results: A total of 24.6% of the sample (21.9% AUD group and 32.2% ACUD group) screened positive for ADHD. Differences were observed in Total Impulsivity (T(199) =-2.587, p=.010), with the mean score being higher in the ACUD group. Gender differences were noted with ADHD exhibiting a significant explanatory power for impulsivity (greater than 37%) in women compared to men, where its relevance is minimal. Among women, an inverse relationship was found between impulsivity and activity and sociability, in contrast to men, where the inverse relationship was with intolerance to isolation. Both men and women showed associations between ADHD and elevated levels of anxiety and depression. Study limitations and practical implications are discussed.

Conclusions: Although this is an observational study and should be develop a longitudinal study, we detected that the presence of ADHD in addicted women significantly influences impulsivity and should be systematically assessed due to the differences in the clinical approach.

Keywords: ADHD; addiction; alcohol; cocaine; gender differences; impulsivity.

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Conflict of interest statement

CR has received fees to give lectures for Janssen-Cilag, MSD, Exceltis, Abbvie, Takeda, Casein-Recordati, Carnot, Angellini, Camurus, Esteve, Tecno Quimica and Viatris. He has received financial compensation for his participation as consultant or a board member of Lundbeck, Gilead, MSD, INDIVIOR, Exceltis, Camurus, Abbvie, Idorsia, Rovi and Recordati board. He has carried out the PROTEUS project, which was funded by a grant from Indivior and the COSTEDOPIA project, which was funded by INDIVIOR. He received two medical education grants by Gilead and medical writing support from Abbvie. BV-H has received fees to give lectures for Viatris. RFP-A has received speaker honorariums from Angelini, Casen Recordati, Exeltis, Lundbeck, MSD, Mundipharma, Rubió, Servier, and Takeda. LG-L has be received funded Research from Casen Recordati and has received fees to give lectures for Idorsia and Esteve, JP has been advisor for Lundbeck Ltd, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals UK, Recordati, Eli Lilly and co., AstraZeneca and F. Hoffmann-La Roche; and speaker for Lundbeck Ltd, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals UK, Eli Lilly and co., F. Hoffmann-La Roche, AstraZeneca and Janssen-Cilag, LA has received fees to give lectures for Casein-Recordati. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

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