Comorbiditari ADHD

I. ADHD in adults-what science says:

Like children with ADHD, adults with the disorder have been found inprior studies to have a greater risk for comorbid oppositional defiant disorder(ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) than do either clinical control groups withouta diagnosis of ADHD or normal, nonreferred adults. Approximately 24 to35% of clinic-referred adults diagnosed with ADHD have ODD and 17 to 25%have CD, either currently or over the course of their earlier development(Barkley, Murphy, & Kwasnik, 1996; Biederman et al., 1993; Murphy &Barkley, 1996; Murphy et al., 2002; Spencer, 2004). These figures for clinicreferredadults are below those reported in studies of ADHD children, particularlystudies of hyperactive children followed to adulthood, where levels of ODDand CD may be double or triple these rates reported for adults diagnosed withADHD (see Barkley, 2006, for a review; Barkley et al., 1990; Fischer et al., 2002;Weiss & Hechtman, 1993). Among parents of children having ADHD who alsomeet criteria for ADHD, disruptive behavior disorders also occur significantly

Antisocial personality disorder is often an associatedadult outcome in a large minority of those children or adolescents who haveboth ADHD and CD; thus it is not surprising to find that 7 to 44% of clinicreferredadults diagnosed with ADHD also qualify for a diagnosis of this personalitydisorder (Biederman et al., 1993; Shekim et al., 1990; Torgersen, Gjervab,& Rasmussen, 2006). Even among those who do not qualify for this diagnosis,many receive higher than normal ratings on those personality traits associatedwith this personality disorder (Tzelepis, Schubiner, & Warbase, 1995).

with this personality disorder (Tzelepis, Schubiner, & Warbase, 1995).Substance dependence and abuse are known to occur to a more frequentdegree among hyperactive children or children with ADHD who develop CDby adolescence or antisocial personality disorder by adulthood (Barkley, 2006;Tercyak, Peshkin, Walker, & Stein, 2002). A recent study of a large general populationsample likewise found an association between ADHD in adults and antisocialpersonality disorder (Kessler et al., 2006). Adults clinically diagnosed withADHD seem to be no exception to this rule, linking ADHD with antisocialactivities as well as with drug use disorders. Studies have found lifetime rates ofalcohol dependence or abuse disorders ranging between 21% and 53% of adults