Emotional Dysregulation in Emerging Adult ADHD: A Key Consideration in Explaining and Classifying Impairment and Co-Occurring Internalizing Problems

Objective: The current study sought to clarify and harness the incremental validity of emotional dysregulation and unawareness (EDU) in emerging adulthood, beyond ADHD symptoms and with respect to concurrent classification of impairment and co-occurring problems, using machine learning techniques. Method: Participants were 1,539 college students (Mage = 19.5, 69% female) with self-reported ADHD diagnoses from a multisite study who completed questionnaires assessing ADHD symptoms, EDU, and co-occurring problems. Results: Random forest analyses suggested EDU dimensions significantly improved model performance (ps