Kids With ADHD More Likely To Be Adults With Drug or Alcohol Problems

Parents of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may want to spend extra time teaching them about the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol considering findings from a new study by UCLA psychologists and colleagues at the University of South Carolina.

Researchers found children with ADHD are two to three times more likely than children without the disorder to develop serious substance abuse problems in adolescence and adulthood.

Steve S. Lee, a UCLA assistant professor of psychology and lead author of the study said the risk for substance abuse problems applies to all children with ADHD: male or female, any race or ethnicity.

The risk also applies across substances: nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and other drugs.

"The findings were very consistent," said Lee.

Lee and his colleagues analyzed 27 long-term studies that followed approximately 4,100 children with ADHD and 6,800 children without the disorder into adolescence and young adulthood -- in some cases for more than 10 years.

These carefully designed, rigorous and lengthy studies, Lee said, are the "gold standard" in the field.

The researchers combined all the published studies that met rigorous criteria and analyzed them together.

They found that children with ADHD were at greater risk for serious problems such as addiction, abuse and trying to quit but being unable to.

"Any single study can be spurious," said Lee, "but our review of more than two dozen carefully designed studies provides a compelling analysis."

Common problem

ADHD is common, occurring in approximately 5 percent to 10 percent of children in the United States and figures in many other industrialized countries with compulsory education are comparable, according to Lee.

Symptoms of the disorder are common in children and include being easily distracted, fidgeting, being unable to complete a single task and being easily bored.

However, to receive a diagnosis of ADHD, a child must have at least six of nine symptoms of either hyperactivity or inattention, and the child's behavior must be causing problems in his or her life.

The vast majority of children with ADHD have at least six symptoms in both categories, said Lee.

In addition, the symptoms must have started before age seven, must be present in multiple settings -- at home and school, for example -- and must be adversely affecting functioning. They must not be explainable by any medical condition or any other mental disorder.

According to Lee, as children with ADHD enter adolescence and adulthood, they typically fall into three groups of roughly equal size: one-third will have significant problems in school and socially; one-third will have moderate impairment; and one-third will do reasonably well or have only mild impairment.

Parents should monitor their children, said Lee, who noted early intervention with a mental health professional, such as a child psychologist or psychiatrist, is often helpful.

The research by Lee and his colleagues, the first large-scale comprehensive analysis on this issue, is published online this week in the journal Clinical Psychology Review and will appear in a print edition later this year.