Financial decision-making in a community sample of adults with and without current symptoms of ADHD

Dorien F Bangma; Lara Tucha; Anselm B M Fuermaier; Oliver Tucha; Janneke Koerts

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0239343

Financial decision-making in a community sample of adults with and without current symptoms of ADHD

PLoS One. 2020 Oct 12;15(10):e0239343. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239343. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Dorien F Bangma¹, Lara Tucha², Anselm B M Fuermaier¹, Oliver Tucha^{1

2}, Janneke Koerts¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
² Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany.

Abstract

Research found that adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have more problems with financial decision-making than healthy controls. The present study investigates the impact of symptoms of ADHD on impulsive buying and the use of financial decision styles. Furthermore, the influence of personality, symptoms of depression and demographics on the association between ADHD and these aspects of financial decision-making is evaluated. A community sample of 1292 participants (age range 18-93 years, 45.4% male) completed questionnaires related to ADHD, impulsive buying, financial decision styles, personal financial situation, depression and personality. Four groups were formed based on self-reported ADHD symptoms: an 'ADHD' group (n = 45), an 'Adult-only ADHD' group (n = 57), a 'Subthreshold ADHD' group (n = 162) and a 'No ADHD' group (n = 265). Groups were compared using ANOVA and chi-square tests. Furthermore, multiple regression analyses in the complete sample were employed to examine the association between ADHD and financial decision-making. The ADHD and Adult-only ADHD groups reported significantly more impulsive buying, used more often an avoidant or spontaneous decision style and less often saved money compared to the No ADHD group. Regression analyses revealed that impulsive buying and financial decision styles were not significantly associated with ADHD symptoms when controlling for personality, symptoms of depression and demographics. The present study confirms previous research on adults with ADHD by indicating more impulsive buying and a more frequent use of disadvantageous financial decision styles (i.e., avoidant and spontaneous styles) in individuals with an elevated number of current symptoms of ADHD compared to individuals without symptoms of ADHD. Personality and demographic variables were found to be related to both impulsive buying and the use of specific financial decision styles and might be of influence on the association between impulsive buying, the use of financial decision styles and ADHD.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / pathology
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / psychology*
Case-Control Studies
Decision Making*
Depression / pathology
Economic Status
Female
Humans
Impulsive Behavior
Male
Middle Aged
Personality
Regression Analysis
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult

Grants and funding

LT: The study was supported by the internet fund of the Department of Psychology of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.