Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
ReviewChildhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Future Substance Use Disorders: Comparative Meta-Analyses
Section snippets
Method
The literature search identified all published reports of prospective longitudinal cohorts of school-age children diagnosed with ADHD followed until age 18 years or beyond, which examined risk of SUDs compared with nonclinical children.
Search Results
The search yielded 1,319 references. Of these, 90 studies were reviewed in detail and assessed for internal validity. Sixty were irrelevant for our review, 15 were graded as good, 10 as fair, and 5 as poor. Of the 30 relevant articles, 15 reported results included in other articles (Figure 1). Thirteen were deemed suitable for inclusion in the meta-analysis of any of the five outcomes of interest. These studies are presented in Table 1.1, 3, 5, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
Alcohol Use Disorder
Ten studies
Discussion
The present review is the first meta-analysis quantifying risk for development of SUDs for young children diagnosed with ADHD. Substance use remains a serious concern and an important target of prevention and early intervention for childhood ADHD. The meta-analyses reported in this review confirm that children with ADHD are at risk for developing alcohol use disorder (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.11-1.64) by early adulthood and for self-reported nicotine use by middle adolescence (OR = 2.36, 95% CI =
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Search strategy designed by Elizabeth Uleryk, Library Director, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Statistical consultation was provided by Joseph Beyene, Ph.D., Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Assistance with supervision of abstract review and grading of internal validity was provided by Jennifer Crosbie, Ph.D., Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
This article represents original work and the first author has had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Disclosures: Dr. Charach has received salary support through a New Investigator Fellowship Award from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation, with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. She has received research support through the McMaster University Evidence-Based Practice Center, sponsored by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. She has also received research support from the Hospital for Sick Children Department of Psychiatry Endowment Fund and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ms. Yeung, Mr. Climans, and Ms. Lillie report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
This article is discussed in an editorial by Dr. Timothy E. Wilens on page 6.
This article can be used to obtain continuing medical education (CME) category 1 credit at jaacap.org.