Faculty Collaboration Database

Is ADHD a risk factor for psychoactive substance use disorders? Findings from a four-year prospective follow-up study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1997 Jan;36(1):21-9

Date

01/01/1997

Pubmed ID

9000777

DOI

10.1097/00004583-199701000-00013

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0031021116 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   408 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a risk factor for psychoactive substance use disorders (PSUD), attending to issues of psychiatric comorbidity, family history, and adversity.

METHOD: Using assessments from multiple domains, the authors examined 140 ADHD and 120 normal control subjects at baseline and 4 years later. Drug and alcohol abuse and dependence were operationally defined.

RESULTS: No differences were detected in the rates of alcohol or drug abuse or dependence or in the rates of abuse of individual substances between the groups; both ADHD and control probands had a 15% rate of PSUD. Conduct and bipolar disorders predicted PSUD, independently of ADHD status. Family history of substance dependence and antisocial disorders was associated with PSUD in controls but less clearly so in ADHD probands. Family history of ADHD was not associated with risk for PSUD. ADHD probands had a significantly shorter time period between the onsets of abuse and dependence compared with controls (1.2 years versus 3 years, p < .01).

CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with and without ADHD had a similar risk for PSUD that was mediated by conduct and bipolar disorder. Since the risk for PSUD has been shown to be elevated in adults with ADHD when compared with controls, a sharp increase in PSUD is to be expected in grown-up ADHD children during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Author List

Biederman J, Wilens T, Mick E, Faraone SV, Weber W, Curtis S, Thornell A, Pfister K, Jetton JG, Soriano J

Author

Jennifer G. Jetton MD Chief, Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity
Bipolar Disorder
Case-Control Studies
Child
Child Behavior Disorders
Cohort Studies
Family Health
Humans
Male
Regression Analysis
Substance-Related Disorders
United States