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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may face problems with alcohol as they get older.
Two new studies help confirm ADHD is a risk factor for alcohol problems, and parental alcoholism and stressful experiences in the family may increase the risk.
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In the first study, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh interviewed children diagnosed with ADHD ages 11 to 17 or ages 18 to 28. They found the 15- to 17-year-olds with childhood ADHD were drunk an average of 14 times in the previous year compared to only 1.8 times in 15- to 17- year-olds without the condition. Researchers report 14 percent of the group with childhood ADHD were diagnosed with alcohol abuse or dependence compared to none of the teens in the comparison group.
In the second study, researchers interviewed 142 adolescents who had been diagnosed with childhood ADHD and 100 adolescents without the condition. They found alcoholism and ADHD both tend to run in families. Parental alcoholism predicted heavy problem drinking among teenagers.
The association was partly explained by higher rates of stress in these families, and these connections were stronger when the adolescent had ADHD in childhood, reports study author Brooke Molina, Ph.D., from the University of Pittsburgh. So, the bottom line is that when the child has ADHD and the parent has suffered from alcoholism, either currently or in the past, the child will have an increased risk for alcohol problems himself or herself.
When a youngster has ADHD, he or she is more likely to either provoke higher rates of drinking in parents, exacerbating overall stress levels; or be more confused and upset by parental drinking, then reverting to this pattern himself or herself, reports Stephen Hinshaw, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.
However, the authors stress not all children with ADHD have problems with alcohol.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 2007;31:564-574:643-652
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