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A prospective look at substance use and criminal behavior in urban ADHD youth: what is the role of maltreatment history on outcome?

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ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders

Abstract

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at heightened risk of antisocial behavior during adolescence/early adulthood. Here, we characterize the antisocial outcomes of a sample of urban, lower-socioeconomic-status, ethnically diverse ADHD youth and investigate the impact of maltreatment history on criminal and substance use disorder (SUD) outcomes. Ninety-eight participants diagnosed with ADHD in childhood were re-assessed 10 years later and compared with controls. Regression analyses investigated the effect of maltreatment on antisocial outcomes among four groups based on ADHD and maltreatment status. ADHD subjects and controls did not differ in rates of arrest, conviction, incarceration, or recidivism. ADHD youth were younger at their first arrest with higher rates of SUDs when compared to controls. Controls and ADHD subjects with maltreatment had significantly higher rates of SUDs compared to the no-ADHD/no-maltreatment group. Only ADHD youth with maltreatment had significantly higher rates of arrest than the reference group. In contrast to prior studies, ADHD youth did not differ from controls on most measures of antisocial behavior. Maltreatment increased the rate of arrest only among ADHD youth, though increased the rate of SUD for ADHD youth and controls. This suggests that ADHD youth, in the absence of maltreatment, are at no greater risk of SUDs or arrest than controls without maltreatment.

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Notes

  1. Three subjects fell outside this range: 15 years 9 months, 25 years 5 months, and 22 years 1 month.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (RO1 MH60698) to Jeffrey M. Halperin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Virginia A. De Sanctis

  2. Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Jeffrey H. Newcorn & Jeffrey M. Halperin

  3. Department of Psychology, Queens College, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 65-30 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing, New York, NY, 11367, USA

    Jeffrey M. Halperin

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  1. Virginia A. De Sanctis
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  2. Jeffrey H. Newcorn
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  3. Jeffrey M. Halperin
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Correspondence to Virginia A. De Sanctis.

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De Sanctis, V.A., Newcorn, J.H. & Halperin, J.M. A prospective look at substance use and criminal behavior in urban ADHD youth: what is the role of maltreatment history on outcome?. ADHD Atten Def Hyp Disord 6, 79–86 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-013-0124-8

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