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Although parental attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a risk factor for multiple negative youth outcomes, it is unknown how change in parental ADHD symptoms over time affects change in child ADHD symptoms; moreover, mediators of these predictions are largely unknown. Parents of 230 5-10 year-old children (68 % male) with (n = 120) and without ADHD (n = 110) were followed prospectively for 6-7 years across three separate waves. Parents self-reported their ADHD and depression symptoms and similarly rated offspring ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms; youth self-reported their substance use. Temporally-ordered mediators consisted of parental expressed emotion (EE), derived from the Five Minute Speech Sample, and self-reported positive and negative parenting behavior. Controlling for key demographics and parental depression symptoms, increasing parental ADHD symptoms were a time-varying predictor of worsening youth ADHD and ODD, although it was unrelated to change in CD and alcohol/substance use. Next, although EE facets (i.e., criticism, emotional over-involvement) did not mediate these predictions, negative parenting behavior significantly mediated predictions of youth ADHD (and marginally in predictions of ODD) from parental ADHD symptoms. These quasi-experimental findings suggest that parental ADHD symptoms are a potential unique causal risk factor for offspring ADHD and ODD; also, preventing negative parenting behavior secondary to parental ADHD symptoms is critical to improve trajectories of youth ADHD and ODD. We consider parental ADHD symptoms and family factors underlying emergent externalizing problems utilizing a developmental psychopathology framework, including implications for intervention and prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although individual differences in fluid reasoning reliably mediate predictions of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms from birth weight in youth with typical cognitive development (TD), it is unknown if this indirect effect operates similarly in the development of ADHD symptoms secondary to intellectual disability (ID). Thus, we evaluated mediation by fluid reasoning in a longitudinal sample of 163 youth (45% female) with (n = 52) or without (n = 111) ID who were followed prospectively from age 5 to age 13. At age 9, youth completed the Arithmetic subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, a measure of fluid reasoning. At ages 9 and 13, mothers and teachers separately rated youth ADHD symptoms and mothers completed a diagnostic interview. Mediation was tested via path analysis with bootstrapped confidence intervals, and moderated mediation estimated whether indirect effects differed between ID and TD youth or based on youth IQ. Controlling for demographic factors and age 9 ADHD symptoms, age 9 Arithmetic mediated birth weight and multi-method/informant age 13 ADHD symptoms, such that birth weight positively predicted Arithmetic, which negatively predicted ADHD symptoms. Neither ID status nor IQ moderated the observed indirect effect through Arithmetic, suggesting that it was similar for ID and TD youth as well as across the range of youth IQs. These findings support previous evidence that fluid reasoning, as measured by Arithmetic, may causally mediate birth weight and ADHD symptoms, and suggest that this pathway operates similarly with respect to the development of ADHD symptoms in youth with ID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is independently associated with both anxiety and conduct problems, it is unclear how co-occurring ADHD + anxiety are associated with different forms of conduct problems. That is, there is relatively little evidence how ADHD and co-occurring anxiety, relative to ADHD only and anxiety only, are associated with aggression and delinquency. Controlling for age, sex, oppositional defiant disorder diagnostic status and total psychopathology, we compared children with anxiety only, ADHD only, ADHD + anxiety, and a clinic-referred comparison group on measures of conduct problems. Three hundred eighty ethnically diverse boys and girls ages 5 to 17 (M = 11.62) were evaluated using a semistructured diagnostic interview for ADHD and anxiety; aggressive and delinquent behavior were evaluated using the Child Behavior Checklist. Children with anxiety only (n = 119) did not differ from clinic-referred comparisons (i.e., noDSM-IVdiagnosis;n = 95) on aggression or delinquency; children with ADHD only (n = 130) were significantly more aggressive and delinquent than children with anxiety only. Children with ADHD + anxiety (n = 36) were significantly less aggressive than children with ADHD only, but they did not differ with respect to delinquency. These preliminary data suggest that ADHD, in the presence of anxiety, may be associated with significantly less aggression but not less delinquency. We discuss these findings from a developmental psychopathology framework and stress the need for further study to support possible implications for intervention and prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Children who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with functional impairment in at least one setting at 4-6 years of age were followed prospectively through age 18 years. On average, the 125 children (107 boys) with ADHD at baseline improved over time, but still continued to exhibit more symptoms, functional impairment, and risky behavior through adolescence than demographically matched healthy comparison children. These findings support the predictive validity of the diagnosis of ADHD at younger ages by demonstrating that the symptoms and impairment are enduring. Nonetheless, there were marked variations in developmental outcomes. Among children with ADHD, higher numbers of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms and higher number of concurrent symptoms (oppositional, conduct disorder, anxiety, and depression) measured at baseline each predicted higher future levels of the same dimension of symptoms. In addition, higher baseline levels of inattention, oppositional, conduct disorder, and anxiety symptoms predicted greater future functional impairment. Among children with ADHD, girls and children from families with lower family incomes had relatively poorer outcomes. Although outcomes varied along a continuum, approximately 10% of the children with ADHD at 4-6 years could be classified as functioning in the normative range on multiple measures during 15-18 years. Although this finding awaits replication, lower levels of hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms at 4-6 years predicted more normative functioning during adolescence. These findings suggest that ADHD identified in early childhood predicts an increased likelihood of functional impairment through adolescence for most, but not all, children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the relationship between social information processing (SIP) and both relational and overt, physical aggression in a longitudinally-followed sample of 228 adolescent girls (ages 11–18; 140 with ADHD and 88 comparison girls). During childhood, girls participated in naturalistic summer camps where peer rejection, overt physical aggression, and relational aggression were assessed via multiple informants and methods. Approximately 4.5 years later, these girls participated in follow-up assessments during which they completed a commonly-used vignette procedure to assess SIP; overt and relational aggression were again assessed through multiple informants. Correlations between (a) overt and relational aggression and (b) maladaptive SIP were modest in this female adolescent sample. However, relationships between aggression and SIP were stronger for the comparison girls than for the girls with ADHD. The relevance of SIP models for adolescent girls and clinical implications of findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predictors of adolescent functioning were studied in an ethnically diverse sample of girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 140) and age- and ethnicity-matched comparison girls (n = 88) who participated in naturalistic summer programs during childhood. Over a 5-year follow-up (sample retention = 92%; age range = 11.3–18.2 years), conduct problems were predicted by hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI) symptoms and noncompliance (NC). Academic achievement was predicted only by inattention symptoms, whereas school suspensions and expulsions were predicted by inattention symptoms (ADHD sample only), NC, and negative peer status. Substance use was predicted by NC and HI symptoms. Internalizing problems were predicted by HI symptoms, NC, and covert antisocial behavior. Finally, initial peer status was the only significant predictor of later negative social preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which examined the validity of the diagnosis of attention-deficit or hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young children. What the three subtypes of ADHD are based on; Information on the participants of the study; Testing of the diagnostic criteria; Need for validation studies in ADHD; Methodological approach used in this study; Findings of the study.