Abstract
Mothers rated the frequency of suicide ideation and attempts in 925 children and adolescents with ADHD (3–16 years). Ideation and attempts were more than twice as common in ADHD-Combined type than in ADHD-Inattentive type. Ideation occurred in 19 % with ADHD-C and in 7 % with ADHD-I. Percentages for attempts were 7 % and 3 %. For children and adolescents with co-occurring sadness and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), 46 % had ideation and 21 % had attempts (vs. 6 and 2 % for ADHD alone). For those with ideation, 78 % had ODD or sadness. For those with attempts, 84 % had ODD or sadness. Maternal ratings of aggressive, explosive, sad, and moody were significant independent predictors of suicide behavior for ADHD-C, and sad and moody were predictors for ADHD-I. All children and adolescents with ADHD should be screened for suicide ideation and attempts, and co-occurring ODD and sadness should be treated to prevent suicide behavior.
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Conflict of Interest
Susan Dickerson Mayes declares that there is no conflict of interest; Susan L. Calhoun declares that there is no conflict of interest; Raman Baweja declares that there is no conflict of interest; Lance Feldman declares that there is no conflict of interest; Ehsan Syed declares that there is no conflict of interest; Angela A. Gorman declares that there is no conflict of interest; Jose Montaner declares that there is no conflict of interest; Jitendra Annapareddy declares that there is no conflict of interest; Nidhi Gupta declares that there is no conflict of interest; Ademola Bello declares that there is no conflict of interest; Farhat Siddiqui declares that there is no conflict of interest.
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Institutional Review Board approval was obtained, and consent was waived by the Board because our study is a retrospective review of existing clinical data.
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Mayes, S.D., Calhoun, S.L., Baweja, R. et al. Suicide Ideation and Attempts are Associated with Co-occurring Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Sadness in Children and Adolescents with ADHD. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 37, 274–282 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-014-9451-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-014-9451-0