Children With ADHD Are at Risk for a Broad Array of Adverse Adult Outcomes That Cross Functional Domains: Results From a Population-Based Birth Cohort Study

Abstract

Objective: To identify patterns ("classes") of outcomes for adults with and without childhood ADHD.

Method: Subjects were 232 childhood ADHD cases and 335 non-ADHD referents from a 1976 to 1982 birth cohort. We used latent class analyses to identify classes based on a broad array of adult psychosocial outcomes and determined the proportion of subjects with childhood ADHD within each class.

Results: A three class solution provided optimal model fit; classes were termed "good," "intermediate," and "poor" functioning. Subjects with childhood ADHD comprised 62.8% of the "poor," 53.5% of the "intermediate," and 24.9% of the "good" functioning class. The "poor" functioning class was distinguished by increased likelihood of legal trouble and substance use disorders and included more individuals with childhood ADHD and psychiatric disorder than the "intermediate" class (45.5% vs. 30.6%).

Conclusion: Children with ADHD are at risk for adverse adult outcomes in multiple domains and co-morbid childhood psychiatric disorders increase risk.

Keywords: ADHD-associated problems; adult; functional outcomes.