6.43 THE INFLUENCE OF COMORBID PROBLEMATIC INTERNET USE ON QUANTITATIVE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY DEVIANCES IN BOYS WITH ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

Objectives: ADHD studies, findings related to resting-state quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) have been relatively consistent over a long period of time. However, several factors have been shown to influence the QEEG results. One of the important influential factors is an existence of other comorbid psychiatric conditions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of comorbid psychiatric symptom on quantitative EEG (QEEG) activities using an age-matched sample. Methods: ADHD diagnosis was based on the Korean version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV (DISC-IV) and these diagnoses were confirmed by several child and adolescent psychiatrists. Boys with ADHD were assigned to one of three groups: pure ADHD (N=22), ADHD with depressive symptoms (N=11), and ADHD with problematic Internet use (N=19). Typically developing children (N=27) were also enrolled in this study. A resting EEG was recorded during three minutes with the participant's eyes closed. Five frequency bands were defined for further analysis: delta (1-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), beta (12-30 Hz), and gamma (30-50 Hz). Results: In the repeated measures ANOVA model, a significant main effect of the group was found for the absolute theta power (df=2, F=3.828, p=0.029), with the pure ADHD group exhibiting higher theta power than the ADHD with problematic Internet use. In the follow-up analysis, the absolute theta power was relatively high in the pure ADHD group at the central (C3, T4, and Cz) and posterior (P3, O1, O2, T5, T6, and Pz) regions. The ADHD with depressive symptom group showed no significant differences in any region compared with pure ADHD group and the ADHD with problematic Internet use group. Conclusions: The ADHD with problematic Internet use group showed increased absolute theta power at the central and posterior regions. However, the ADHD with depressive symptom group had no significant impacts on QEEG activities in any region. These findings will contribute to a better understanding of brain-based electrophysiological changes in boys with ADHD in accordance with comorbid psychiatric symptoms.