Volume 47, Issue 4 , Pages 426-434, April 2008
New Insights Into the Comorbidity Between ADHD and Major Depression in Adolescent and Young Adult Females
ABSTRACT
Objective
The main aim of this study was to evaluate the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and major depression (MD) in adolescent and young adult females.
Method
Subjects were females with (n = 140) and without (n = 122) ADHD ascertained from pediatric and psychiatric settings. Subjects were followed prospectively for 5 years into adolescence and young adulthood and reassessed in multiple nonoverlapping domains including psychiatric, cognitive, interpersonal, family, and educational functioning.
Results
Females with ADHD had a 2.5 times higher risk for MD at adolescent follow-up compared with control females, adjusting for psychiatric comorbidity. MD in females with ADHD was associated with an earlier age at onset, greater than twice the duration, more severe depression-associated impairment, a higher rate of suicidality, and a greater likelihood of requiring psychiatric hospitalization than MD in control girls. Parental MD and proband mania were significant predictors of MD among females with ADHD, independently of other predictors.
Conclusions
MD emerging in the context of ADHD in females is an impairing and severe comorbidity worthy of further clinical and scientific considerations.
Key Words: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder , major depression , adolescents , females
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This article was reviewed under and accepted by F. Xavier Castellanos, M.D., ad hoc Action Editor.This work was supported in part by a grant from USPHS (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) 5R01 HD-36317-07 (J.B.), grant 1-R03-MH079954-01 from the National Institute of Mental Health (J.B.), and a grant from the Lilly Foundation (J.B.).This article is the subject of an editorial by Dr. Stephen P. Hinshaw in this issue.Disclosure: Dr. Biederman receives research support from, has been a speaker for, or is on the advisory boards of Shire, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, McNeil, Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, New River Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Janssen, Novartis, UCB Pharma, AstraZeneca, Forest Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Stanley Medical Institute, Lilly Foundation, Prechter Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Drug Abuse, and Neurosearch. Dr. Mick receives grant support from McNeil Pediatrics and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Spencer receives research support from, is a speaker for, or is on the advisory boards of Shire Laboratories, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, McNeil Pharmaceutical, Novartis, National Institute of Mental Health, and Wyeth-Ayerst. Dr. Faraone receives research support from, is a speaker for, or is on the advisory boards of Eli Lilly, McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals, Shire, Noven Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The other authors report no conflicts of interest.
PII: S0890-8567(09)62398-4
doi:10.1097/CHI.0b013e31816429d3
© 2008 The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Volume 47, Issue 4 , Pages 426-434, April 2008
