Anxiety and mood disorders in adolescents with childhood attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

In this study, the authors examined the association between childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety and mood disorders in adolescence. They compared a group of 142 adolescents ages 13 to 18 years with a history of ADHD in childhood to group of 100 community-recruited adolescents without ADHD. The two groups did not differ in rates of anxiety and mood disorders in adolescence.Within the ADHD group, however, anxiety and mood disorders in adolescence were predicted by childhood externalizing disorder symptoms and social problems but not by childhood internalizing disorder symptoms. The current findings provided little evidence of an overall increased risk for anxiety and mood disorders in adolescents who had childhood ADHD. Children with ADHD who have more severe externalizing symptoms and social problems in childhood may be at elevated risk for certain internalizing disorders.