ADD/ADHD Adolesence into Adulthood

By admin - March 29, 2009 - 19:21 Etc/GMT+7

ADHD into Adolescence and Adulthood

The severity of ADHD symptoms in adolescence and adulthood coincides with an increase of problems related to aggression and conduct. The worse an individual’s ADHD symptoms get, the more likely that the individual might progress to criminal behavior. Further, the rate of borderline and antisocial personality disorders appears much higher in individuals with histories of ADHD.[i]

Compared to other young adults, ADHD individuals engage have a greater number of school suspensions (14 percent vs. 2 percent), have more adversarial contacts with law enforcement agencies (19:3), and are more likely to be admitted into juvenile justice facilities (5:1).[ii]

Researchers increasingly identify the development of aggressive behavior during childhood and adolescence as the connecting bond between ADHD, substance abuse, and criminal behavior.[iii]

While aggression does not represent one of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, approximately 50 percent of those with ADHD evaluated in clinics progress to a level of aggressive behavior defined by most law enforcement agencies as delinquency.[iv]

ADHD appears to be a catalyst with primarily family variables increasing the risk that ADHD behavior will lead to delinquency and substance abuse problems.[v]

Studies also suggest that this group is likely to cause and experience more automobile accidents, and sustain more bodily injuries associated with accidents, than others. Members of this group also are more likely to receive traffic citations, particularly for speeding.[vi]

[i] . Goldstein, ADHD/LD in Adults (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1996).

[ii] 2 S. Mannuzza, R. Klein, P.H. Konig, and T.L. Giampino, “Hyperactive Boys Almost Grown Up: IV. Criminality and Its Relationship to Psychiatric Status,” Archives of General Psychiatry, 46, 1989, 1073-1079

[iii] S.O. Lilenfield, I.D. Waldman, “The Relation Between Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Adult Anti-social Behavior Re-examined: The Problem of Heterogeneity,” Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 1990, 699-725.

[iv] J. Biederman, J. Newcorn, and S. Sprich, “Conorbidity of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder With Conduct, Depressive, Anxiety, and Other Disorders,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 1991, 564-570.

[v] P.J. Frick, “Family Dysfunction and the Disruptive Behavior Disorders: A Review of Recent Empirical Findings,” Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, 16, 1994, 203-226.

[vi] R.A. Barkley, D.C. Guevremont, A.D. Anastopoulos, G.J. DuPaul, and T.L. Shelton, “Driving-related Risks and Outcomes of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adolescents and Young Adults: A 3- to 5-year Follow-up Survey,” Pediatrics, 92, 212-218.

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Davisson Clinic, LLC
12900 Preston Road – Suite 1200
Dallas, Texas 75230
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