Abstract
In a sample of 235 families with at least two children with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the frequency and familial association of learning disabilities (LD) were assessed. Familiality was examined both between sibling pairs and between parents and their children. Two methods for defining LD, a discrepancy-based and a low-achievement model, were employed to examine the occurrence of LD in this sample. The specific types of LD examined included Reading Disability (RD), Math Disability (MD), and Writing Disability (WD). The prevalence rates were highest for RD, followed by WD then MD. The two definitions of LD yielded similar prevalence rates but identified different groups of children with vastly different IQ scores. Strong familial association was demonstrated for RD both between sibling pairs and between parents and children, with weaker association for WD. There was evidence of nonrandom mating for LD among parents, but not for ADHD or for ADHD + LD. Despite the high comorbidity of ADHD and LD among parents, the presence of ADHD in the parents did not predict child LD supporting independent familial factors underlying ADHD and LD.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alarcon, M., DeFries, J. C., Light, J. G., & Pennington, B. F. (1997). A twin study of mathematics disability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30, 617–623.
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Washington, DC.
August, G. J., & Garfinkel, B. D. (1990). Comorbidity of ADHD and reading disability among clinic-referred children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 18, 29–45.
Barkley, R. (1990). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment. New York: Guilford Press.
Bolton, P., Macdonald, H., Pickles, A., Rios, P., Goode, S., Crowson, M., Bailey, A., & Rutter, M. (1994). A case-control family history study of autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 35, 877–900.
Brook, U., & Boaz, M. (2005). Attention deficit and learning disabilities (ADHD/LD) among high school pupils in Holon (Israel). Patient Education and Counseling, 58, 164–167.
California Department of Education (2005). California Special Education Programs: A Composite of Laws – 27th Edition, Title 5, Article 3.1, Sec. 3030, p. A-15.
Faraone, S. V., & Biederman, J. (1994). Is ADHD familial? Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 1, 271–287.
Faraone, S. V., Biederman, J., Lehman, B. K., & Keenan, K. (1993a). Evidence for the independent familial transmission of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities: Results from a family genetic study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 891–895.
Faraone, S. V., Biederman, J., Lehman, B. K., & Spencer, T. (1993b). Intellectual performance and school failure in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and in their siblings. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 102, 616–623.
Fletcher, J. M., Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (1999). Comorbidity of learning and attention disorders. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 46, 885–897.
Frick P. J, Kamphaus, R. W., Lahey, B. B., Loeber, R., Christ, M. A., Hart, E. L., & Tannenbaum, L. E. (1991). Academic underachievement and the disruptive behavior disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 289–294.
Fyer, A. J., Endicott, J., Mannuzza, S., & Klein, D. F. (1995). The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia—Lifetime Version, Modified for the Study of Anxiety Disorder 1985, Updated for DSM-IV (SADS-LA-IV). New York: Anxiety Genetics Unit, New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Gayan, J., & Olson, R. K. (1999). Reading disability: Evidence for a genetic etiology. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 8, 52–55.
Gayan, J., Wilcutt, E. G., Fisher, S. E., Francks, C., Cardon, L. R., Olson, R. K., Pennington, B. F., Smith, S. D., Monaco, A. P., & DeFries, J. C. (2005). Bivariate linkage scan for reading disability and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder localizes pleiotropic loci. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 1045–1056.
Holm, S. (1979). A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure. Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, 6, 65–70.
Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rao, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., Williamson, D., & Ryan, N. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children - present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL). Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980–988.
Lerner, J. W., & Lerner, S. R. (1991). Attention deficit disorder: Issues and questions. Focus on Exceptional Children, 24, 1–17.
Loo, S. K., Fisher, S. E., Francks, C., Ogdie, M. N., MacPhie, I. L., Yang, M., McCracken, J. T., McGough, J. J., Nelson, S. F., Monaco, A. P., & Smalley, S. L. (2004). Genome-wide scan of reading ability in affected sibling pairs with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Unique and shared genetic effects. Molecular Psychiatry, 9, 485–493.
Markwardt, F. (1989). Peabody Individual Achievement Test-Revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Services.
Monteaux, M. C., Faraone, S. V., Herzig, K., Navsaria, N., & Biederman, J. (2005). ADHD and dyscalculia: Evidence for independent familial transmission. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 38, 86–93.
Nigg, J. T., Hinshaw, S. P., Corte, E. T., & Treuting, J. L. (1998). Neuropsychological correlates of childhood attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder: Explainable by comorbid disruptive behavior or reading problems? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 468–480.
Pennington, B. F., Gilger, J. W., Olson, R. K., & DeFries, J. C. (1992). The external validity of age- versus IQ-discrepancy definitions of reading disability: Lessons from a twin study. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 562–573.
Pennington, B. F., Gilger, J. W., Pauls, D., Smith, S. A., Smith, S. D., & DeFries, J. C. (1991). Evidence for major gene transmission of developmental dyslexia. Journal of the American Medical Association, 266, 1527–1534.
SAS Version 8.2. (2001). Cary, NC: The SAS Institute Inc.
Schaffer, D., Gould, M. S., Brasic, J., Ambrosini, P., Fisher, P., Bird, H., & Aluwahlia, S. (1985). A Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) (for children 4 to 16 years of age) Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21, 747–748.
Schulte-Korne, G., Deimel, W., Muller, K., Gutenbrunner, C., & Remschmidt, H. (1996). Familial aggreggation of spelling disability. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 37, 817–822.
Semrud-Clikeman, M., Biederman, J., Sprich-Buckminster, S., Lehman, B. K., Faraone, S. V., & Norman, D. (1992). Comorbidity between ADHD and learning disability: A review and report in a clinically referred sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 439–448.
Shalev, R. S., Manor, O., Kerem, B., Ayali, M., Badichi, N., Friedlander, Y., & Gross-Tsur, V. (2001). Developmental dyscalculia is a familial learning disability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34, 59–65.
Shaywitz, B. A., Fletcher, J. M., Holahan, J. M., & Shaywitz, S. E. (1992). Discrepancy compared to low achievement definitions of reading disability: Results from the Connecticut Longitudinal Study. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 639–648.
Smalley, S. L., McGough, J. J, Del’Homme, M., NewDelman, J., Gordon, E., Kim, T. S., Liu, A., & McCracken, J. T. (2000). Familial clustering of symptoms and disruptive behaviors in multiplex families with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 1135–1143.
Smith, S. D., Kimberling, W. J., Pennington, B. F., & Lubs, H. A. (1983). Specific reading disability: Identification of an inherited form through linkage analysis. Science, 219, 1345–1347.
Stevenson, J. Langley, K., Pay, H., Payton, A., Worthington, J., Ollier, W., & Tharpar, A. (2005). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with reading disabilities: Preliminary genetic findings on the involvement of the ADRA2A gene. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 1081–1088.
Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children (3rd edn.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Willcutt, E. G., Pennington, B. F., Smith, S. D., Cardon, L. R., Gayan, J., Knopik, V. S., Olson, R. K., & DeFries, J. C. (2002). Quantitative trait locus of reading disability on chromosome 6p is pleiotropic for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 114, 260–268.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Del’Homme, M., Kim, T.S., Loo, S.K. et al. Familial Association and Frequency of Learning Disabilities in ADHD Sibling Pair Families. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35, 55–62 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9080-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9080-5