A study conducted by the researchers of the Massachusetts General Hospital Pediatric Psychopharmacology unit revealed that kids who are diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to get addicted to illicit drugs. The details of the study were published under the June issue in the Journal of American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
ADHD is a problem which is associated with inattentiveness, impulsivity, over-activity or a combination of all these. They are more prone to depression and hyperactivity. The study included around 268 children who are diagnosed with ADHD. Several studies were conducted to find the chances of occurrence of substance abuse in ADHD-diagnosed kids. One was conducted focusing the experience of ADHD on boys and the other on girls.
It was found some form of substance abuse problem was found in nearly one-third of the children over the course of a decade of tracking. However, among a similar number of children who had no ADHD, similar issues with cigarettes, alcohol or drugs were seen in only one-quarter of the children. The study revealed that kids with ADHD were 1.5 times more likely prone to substance abuse.
The differences in gender or the family history of substance abuse had no effects on the occurrence of substance abuse habit among ADHD affected kids. It was suggested that one who is diagnosed with ADHD should be counseled about the risk of substance abuse. Otherwise, the problems related to substance abuse would further destroy the kids who already suffer from the dreadful effects of ADHD.