This study examined the role between ADHD symptoms, emotion dysregulation and childhood trauma, with a specific focus on whether childhood trauma moderated the the effect of ADHD symptoms on emotion dysregulation. With a cross-sectional sample of 1035 participants, the variables ADHD symptoms, emotion dysregulation and childhood trauma were measured using validated questionnaires and analyzed with a moderation analysis. 

Results showed that ADHD symptoms were positively associated with emotion dysregulation. Also, childhood trauma was positively associated with emotion dysregulation. However, no evidence was found for a moderating role of childhood trauma. These findings show that ADHD symptoms and childhood trauma might contribute to emotion dysregulation in separate pathways instead of through an interactional pathway, like suggested by this study. This study shows the clinical relevance of looking at subthreshold ADHD and the importance of the separate effects on emotion dysregulation.