Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
New ResearchDoes Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Predict Risk-Taking and Medical Illnesses in Adulthood?
Section snippets
Participants
Probands. Probands were 6- to 12-year-old boys (mean = 8.3 years), of white ethnicity and middle or lower-middle class, who were referred by schools for behavior problems, had elevated teacher and parent ratings of hyperactivity, behavior problems at school and home, IQ ≥ 85, and English-speaking parents (N = 207).26, 27 Children with neurological, significant medical disorders, psychosis, or CD were excluded. No other psychiatric disorder was exclusionary. Based on information from teachers,
Sample Characteristics
Sample characteristics are detailed elsewhere.24 Briefly, probands and comparison subjects did not differ in age (41.4 ± 2.9 and 41.5 ± 3.2, p = .78). At FU41, probands had significantly lower SES than comparison subjects (3.4 ± 1.0 versus 2.4 ± 1.1, p<.001). Most probands and comparison subjects were married (70% and 79%, p = .10). Almost all probands and comparison subjects self-identified as heterosexual (132/135 [98%] and 132/136 [97%], respectively), one proband and three comparison
Discussion
Previous studies have reported elevated risky driving4, 5, 6, 13 and risky sexual behaviors7, 9 in children with ADHD followed into their mid 20s. This follow-up of children with ADHD (probands) reaches into these individuals’ fourth and fifth decades. At the mean age 41 years, risky driving, but not risky sex, was significantly higher among probands than among their peers without ADHD (comparison subjects). At the time that the children were diagnosed with ADHD, at an average age of 8 years,
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Review: Adult Outcome as Seen Through Controlled Prospective Follow-up Studies of Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Followed Into Adulthood
2022, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent PsychiatryCitation Excerpt :The Montreal Study found that participants with childhood hyperactivity had more car accidents than control participants.33 The New York Study found that participants with childhood hyperactivity were more likely to have been judged to be at fault for two or more accidents or to have been involved in two or more accidents resulting in injury.39 The Milwaukee Study found that participants with childhood hyperactivity were more likely to have their license suspended two or more times and to be involved in two or more crashes.55
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2022, Pediatric NeurologyADHD and accidents over the life span – A systematic review
2021, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral ReviewsCitation Excerpt :In children, conduct disorder is the comorbid diagnosis most frequently reported to contribute to an increased injury risk. However, oppositional defiant disorder, antisocial personality disorder, depression, autism spectrum disorder, reading disability and adolescent substance and alcohol abuse have also been reported as additional risk factors (Thompson et al., 2007; Liou et al., 2018; Ayaz et al., 2016; Clancy et al., 2006; Olazagasti et al., 2013). Positive bias in teenage drivers with ADHD (n = 172) was found to be significantly correlated with risky driving behavior in a study by Fabiono et al. who compared self and external ratings of driving performance within a driving simulator task (Fabiano et al., 2018).
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Dr. Mannuzza is retired.
Research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health grants MH-18579 (R.G.K.) and T32 MH-067763 (F.X.C.), and by the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant DA-16979 (F.X.C.).
Dr. Ramos Olazagasti served as the statistical expert for this research.
Disclosure: Drs. Ramos Olazagasti, Klein, Mannuzza, and Castellanos, Ms. Belsky, Ms. Hutchison, and Ms. Lashua-Shriftman report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
This article is discussed in an editorial by Dr. J. Antoni Ramos-Quiroga on page 119.
This article can be used to obtain continuing medical education (CME) at http://www.jaacap.org.
Supplemental material cited in this article is available online.