TY - JOUR
T1 - Substance use among ADHD adults
T2 - Implications of late onset and subthreshold diagnoses
AU - Faraone, Stephen V.
AU - Wilens, Timothy E.
AU - Petty, Carter
AU - Antshel, Kevin
AU - Spencer, Thomas
AU - Biederman, Joseph
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Diagnosing ADHD in adults is difficult when the diagnostician cannot establish an onset prior to the DSM-IV criterion of age seven or if the number of symptoms does not achieve the DSM threshold for diagnosis. These diagnostic issues are an even larger concern for clinicians faced with adults with substance use disorders (SUD). The present study compared four groups of adults: full ADHD subjects who met all DSM-IV criteria for childhood onset ADHD, late onset ADHD subjects who met all criteria except the age at onset criterion, subthreshold ADHD subjects who did not meet full symptom criteria, and non-ADHD subjects who did not meet any of the above criteria. Diagnoses were by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, and the Drug Use Severity Index (DUSI) was used for self-report of substance use. Cigarette and marijuana use was significantly greater in all ADHD groups relative to non-ADHD controls. Although usage rates of other drugs failed to reach significance, the ADHD groups were more likely to have used each drug (except alcohol) compared with the non-ADHD group. The late onset and full ADHD groups were more likely to have endorsed ever having a problem due to use of cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana and reported more trouble resisting use of drugs or alcohol. The full ADHD group was more likely than the other groups to have reported "getting high" as their reason for using their preferred drug. Adults with ADHD have elevated rates of substance use and related impairment. Data about late onset ADHD provides further support for the idea that the DSM-IV age at onset criterion is too stringent. In contrast, subthreshold ADHD seems to be a milder form of the disorder, or perhaps a heterogeneous group of true ADHD cases and false positives.
AB - Diagnosing ADHD in adults is difficult when the diagnostician cannot establish an onset prior to the DSM-IV criterion of age seven or if the number of symptoms does not achieve the DSM threshold for diagnosis. These diagnostic issues are an even larger concern for clinicians faced with adults with substance use disorders (SUD). The present study compared four groups of adults: full ADHD subjects who met all DSM-IV criteria for childhood onset ADHD, late onset ADHD subjects who met all criteria except the age at onset criterion, subthreshold ADHD subjects who did not meet full symptom criteria, and non-ADHD subjects who did not meet any of the above criteria. Diagnoses were by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, and the Drug Use Severity Index (DUSI) was used for self-report of substance use. Cigarette and marijuana use was significantly greater in all ADHD groups relative to non-ADHD controls. Although usage rates of other drugs failed to reach significance, the ADHD groups were more likely to have used each drug (except alcohol) compared with the non-ADHD group. The late onset and full ADHD groups were more likely to have endorsed ever having a problem due to use of cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana and reported more trouble resisting use of drugs or alcohol. The full ADHD group was more likely than the other groups to have reported "getting high" as their reason for using their preferred drug. Adults with ADHD have elevated rates of substance use and related impairment. Data about late onset ADHD provides further support for the idea that the DSM-IV age at onset criterion is too stringent. In contrast, subthreshold ADHD seems to be a milder form of the disorder, or perhaps a heterogeneous group of true ADHD cases and false positives.
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U2 - 10.1080/10550490601077809
DO - 10.1080/10550490601077809
M3 - Article
C2 - 17453604
AN - SCOPUS:34247378609
SN - 1055-0496
VL - 16
SP - 24
EP - 34
JO - American Journal on Addictions
JF - American Journal on Addictions
IS - SUPPL. 1
ER -