Childhood ADHD may linger into adulthood, lead to troubles later on
Nearly a third of people diagnosed as children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) still have the condition in adulthood, according to a large new study that also found they’re more likely to develop other mental disorders and to commit suicide.
U.S. researchers who published their findings in Pediatrics on Monday found that about 29 percent of participants in the study who were diagnosed with ADHD as children ended up carrying that diagnosis into their late twenties.
“They still clearly had symptoms that continued to be consistent with that diagnosis. But that in itself has been an area of difficulty and controversy,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. William Barbaresi, from Boston Children’s Hospital.
For their study – which Barbaresi started while at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota – the researchers followed 5,718 children who were born in that area between 1976 and 1982. Of those, 367 were diagnosed with ADHD as children and gave the researchers access to their medical records.
Barbaresi and his colleagues then invited the participants to be reevaluated when they were about 29 years old. Overall, 232 of the childhood ADHD patients agreed to be part of the study as adults, and the researchers found that 68 still had the disorder — about 29 percent.
But even those participants whose ADHD diagnosis did not persist into adulthood were still more likely to suffer from at least one psychiatric condition other than ADHD.
The researchers found that 57 percent of childhood ADHD patients had at least one psychiatric condition as adults — most commonly alcohol or substance abuse, anxiety and depression — compared to 35 percent of the people in a comparison group who did not have ADHD while growing up.
People diagnosed with ADHD as children were also more likely to commit suicide by the time of the follow-up study.
The researchers found that 3 of the 367 participants with childhood ADHD had committed suicide, compared to just 7 of 4,946 non-ADHD participants.
“The finding about suicide is new. It was suggested in another one of these longitudinal studies, but in this study the sample size was large enough for it to be significant,” said Mary Solanto, director of the ADHD Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Solanto, who was not involved in the new research, said many of the study’s other findings have been seen in previous studies. “What’s new is that this is larger and the subjects were drawn from the general population,” she added.
The study’s authors caution, however, that their findings may not apply to children across the U.S., because their study participants were from mostly white, middle-class families in one area of Minnesota.
“It is possible, if not likely, that the magnitude of the adverse outcomes would be even greater in populations with additional challenges such as higher rates of poverty,” they write. Barbaresi told Reuters Health that this study is a “high-level” view of some of the most serious outcomes. He said additional studies with more results will be published later.
But despite these findings, Solanto said ADHD does not have to be a barrier to success. “There are a lot of people who have had it that learned to cope and deal with it. But in order for that to happen, it’s important to diagnose and treat it as soon as possible,” she said. “The focus needs to be on this condition, because it a serious health problem and we’re not treating this way,” Barbaresi said.
Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters
ADHD is a crock…. I can’t believe some parents actually medicate their kids for being kids….
I would venture a guess that not all ADHD diagnoses in children are accurate, but the condition is certainly not a “crock.” That’s just an easy thing to say for people that aren’t afflicted with it.
No, it’s not a crock. I have it as an adult. Imagine having a racing mind, a body that wants to keep moving, and then have a job sitting in a cubicle all day with a job that requires lots of concentration. It’s not easy to deal with. Of course if you have the right job, it can actually be a benefit to you. On the bright side, I’m very fit (because I don’t sit still much and do a lot of cardio) and a very clean house (I like to keep moving). The negatives are forcing myself to slow down and be patient and then difficulty concentrating on work. Oddly, I didn’t have it as a kid. But it can make life very frustrating.
our post demonstrates the fallout of the over diagnoses of ADHD in children. ADHD is NOT a crock. However, when the pharmaceutical companies push their drugs (terms used deliberately) to the point that people use them simply as a crutch to keep children under control, it detracts from those who actually do have ADHD.
Most symptoms that parents and teachers misread as ADHD can be managed by changes in diet and behaviors. Get them off the crap food and off their but and most kids are much better. This is how we can weed the “crock” diagnoses from the real thing. Of course there is a lot of money spent to keep the current paradigm.
My personal belief is that ADHD is not really a “disorder” but rather a genetic trait that at one time was beneficial for humans but is detrimental in the current societal construct. The problem is that as society continues to be more and more white collar, and ability to focus on one problem at a time for long periods of time is more prized in corporate America, the adult ADHD sufferer has no choice but to medicate or flounder and possibly fail.
I am sure most adult suffers like myself (I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 41) would much rather not have to take medication every day in order be able to function at work, home, and in relationships, but as the arc of my life and those like me have shown, untreated ADHD is a recipe for poor decisions and bad self management.
It’s funny you say that, the doctors and the teachers tried to tell me my son had ADHD because he had difficulty reading… They gave me this question sheet to fill out that asked the silliest questions like, does you child need to be told more that once to clean their room? Does your child interrupt you when your on the phone? Is your child often distracted from homework? Does your child have a lot of energy? …. The answers for most questions were yes… That to me sounds like normal child behavior I think kids that are stubborn and hard to handle in class are to much for teachers to handle so they must have ADHD so parents medicate them without knowing exactly what it is or what it could do to your child, any drug that alters your child mentally is not a good thing in my opinion…. Before anyone gives their child a med for ADHD I suggest you take the pill and see exactly how theses drugs effect your child…. If a child can focus on video games and sports, he doesn’t have ADHD he’s just acting like a child…
I do understand the problem with misdiagnosis, but as a person with ADHD I know first-hand that it is very real and that the use of proper medication can be extremely beneficial, if not critical. I agree with a lot of what you say about being careful in each diagnosis, but the condition itself is not a crock.
I’m sure there are some cases where some kids are more hyper than others I just don’t like the idea of kids on such strong medications to calm them down and help them focus, instead put them in sports like Football or Wrestling or basketball so they can use up some of that energy… You don’t know what typed of effects these drugs will have when these kids are older….
Other treatments (lifestyles) not mentioned here can be successful. Organic food, pure water, meditation, and low-stress for the expectant parents and children, from birth, are effective, yet not widely practiced in our culture.
Turning off the TV, eliminating competitive games and disruptive people, and focusing on calm family time does wonders. Simple, low-cost, love-focused relationships can sometimes be the “cure.”
Many children, young adults and adults have found that changing their ways of life have been more beneficial, and much more enjoyable than the traditional medical approach.