Academic Failure of Teens with AD/HD

• 21 percent repeatedly skip school;
• 45 percent have been suspended; and
• 30 percent have failed or had to repeat a year of school

“The Statistics of AD/HD” A summary of the research of Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School

• 32-40 percent eventually drop out of school; and,
• Only 5 to 10 percent finish college.

International Consensus Statement on ADHD, Barkley and co-signers,

Social problems

• Children with AD/HD are more likely to experience teen pregnancy than others in their age group (40 percent)
• AD/HD sufferers tend to have few or no friends (50 to 70 percent).
• 70 to 80 percent of adults with the disorder under-perform at work.

International Consensus Statement on ADHD

• Parents of a child who has AD/HD are three times as likely to separate or divorce as parents of children who don’t have the disorder.

“The Statistics of AD/HD”

Health and safety issues

• 16 percent of children with AD/HD experience sexually transmitted diseases.

International Consensus Statement on ADHD

• Children with AD/HD stand a greater chance of being hit by a car and getting into bicycle accidents than their non-AD/HD peers. Children with AD/HD are also more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit.

“Injuries to children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,” DiScala C, Lescohier I, Barthel M, Li G., Tufts University, Pediatrics 1998 Dec;102(6):1415-21

• Teenagers with AD/HD receive almost four times as many traffic citations as their non-AD/HD peers.
• Teenagers with AD/HD have four times as many car accidents and are seven times more likely to have a second accident.

The Statistics of AD/HD

• Approximately 20 to 30 percent of adults with AD/HD have depression, while 18 to 25 percent suffer from personality disorders.

International Consensus Statement on ADHD

Criminal behavior

• Children with AD/HD who go on to develop behavioral disorders later in life, e.g. Conduct Disorder, may be at higher risk for criminal behavior and abusing illegal drugs.
• 80 percent of incarcerated male juveniles (convicted of substance abuse and theft) could be diagnosed as having AD/HD, while 40 percent of similarly incarcerated adults could be diagnosed as having the disorder.

Rachel Klein, Ph.D. and Salvatore Mannuzza, M.D., New York School of Medicine

Some good news

• A growing body of scientific data indicates that AD/HD medications can reduce the risk of substance abuse and criminal behavior for a child with AD/HD.

“Pharmacotherapy of Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Reduces Risk for Substance Use Disorder,” Joseph Biederman, MD, Timothy Wilens, MD, Eric Mick, ScDv, Thomas Spencer, MD and Stephen V. Faraone, Pediatrics, Vol. 104 No. 2 August 1999, p. e20

• Dr. Timothy Wilens of Harvard Medical School examined data from studies of 1,000 children and concluded that children with AD/HD who received stimulant medication for their disorder were half as likely to develop a substance abuse problem in later years (October 2001).