- By Dana Sparks
ADHD Takes a Toll Well Into Adulthood
For children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the first large, population-based study has found that ADHD doesn’t go away and that psychiatric disorders can often develop when they are adults. Lead investigator William Barbaresi, M.D., of Boston Children’s Hospital, who began the study and has a joint appointment at Mayo Clinic, says, “Only 37.5 percent of the children we contacted as adults were free of these really worrisome outcomes. That’s a sobering statistic that speaks to the need to greatly improve the long-term treatment of children with ADHD and provide a mechanism for treating them as adults.” Mayo Clinic Psychologist Robert C. Colligan, M.D., worked on the research with Dr. Barbaresi and says this study is especially important because of its population size. The findings appear in the online issue of Pediatrics.
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Expert title for broadcast cg: Dr. Robert Colligan, Mayo Clinic Psychologist