Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Due to the multifaceted psychosocial problems of adults with ADHD and the low level of functionality in different areas such as education, work and family life, the search for psychotherapeutic treatment other than pharmacological approaches has increased in the last decade. This study aims to evaluate the clinical contributions of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)-based interventions and the controlled studies in which DBT were tested. This study is a qualitative narrative review. This review included the controlled studies reached by searching the DDT and Adult ADHD as keywords in Medline, Pubmed, Science Direct and EBSCO Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection databases until 2021. A total of 12 research articles and 1 short report were identified, but only 9 studies met the inclusion criteria and controlled study conditions. In all studies, it was seen that the skills training mode of DBT was used or adapted. Although the results of the studies reviewed in this review are not consistent, DBT Skills Training shows promise in controlling ADHD symptoms and increasing other psychosocial skills of adults. However, there is a need for more controlled studies on the effectiveness of DBT Skills Training in different experimental research designs.

Keywords

• adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
• controlled trials
• dialectical behavior therapy
• dialectical behavior therapy skills training