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https://observatorio.fm.usp.br/handle/OPI/12459
Title: | Is Adult ADHD a Childhood-Onset Neurodevelopmental Disorder? Evidence From a Four-Decade Longitudinal Cohort Study |
Authors: | MOFFITT, Terrie E.; HOUTS, Renate; ASHERSON, Philip; BELSKY, Daniel W.; CORCORAN, David L.; HAMMERLE, Maggie; HARRINGTON, HonaLee; HOGAN, Sean; MEIER, Madeline H.; POLANCZYK, Guitherme V.; POULTON, Richie; RAMRAKHA, Sandhya; SUGDEN, Karen; WILLIAMS, Benjamin; ROHDE, Luis Augusta; CASPI, Avshalom |
Citation: | AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY, v.172, n.10, p.967-977, 2015 |
Abstract: | Objective: Despite a prevailing assumption that adult ADHD is a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorder, no prospective longitudinal study has described the childhoods of the adult ADHD population. The authors report follow-back analyses of ADHD cases diagnosed in adulthood, alongside follow-forward analyses of ADHD cases diagnosed in childhood, in one cohort. Method: Participants belonged to a representative birth cohort of 1,037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972 and 1973 and followed to age 38, with 95% retention. Symptoms of ADHD, associated clinical features, comorbid disorders, neuropsychological deficits, genome-wide association study-derived polygenic risk, and life impairment indicators were assessed. Data sources were participants, parents, teachers, informants, neuropsychological test results, and administrative records. Adult ADHD diagnoses used DSM-5 criteria, apart from onset age and cross-setting corroboration, which were study outcome measures. Results: As expected, childhood ADHD had a prevalence of 6% (predominantly male) and was associated with childhood comorbid disorders, neurocognitive deficits, polygenic risk, and residual adult life impairment. Also as expected, adult ADHD had a prevalence of 3% (gender balanced) and was associated with adult substance dependence, adult life impairment, and treatment contact. Unexpectedly, the childhood ADHD and adult ADHD groups comprised virtually nonoverlapping sets; 90% of adult ADHD cases lacked a history of childhood ADHD. Also unexpectedly, the adult ADHD group did not show tested neuropsychological deficits in childhood or adulthood, nor did they show polygenic risk for childhood ADHD. Conclusions: The findings raise the possibility that adults presenting with the ADHD symptom picture may not have a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorder. If this finding is replicated, then the disorder's place in the classification system must be reconsidered, and research must investigate the etiology of adult ADHD. |
Appears in Collections: | Artigos e Materiais de Revistas Científicas - FM/MPS Artigos e Materiais de Revistas Científicas - LIM/21 Artigos e Materiais de Revistas Científicas - ODS/03 |
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