Journal
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY
Volume 39, Issue 12, Pages 1512-1519Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1097/00004583-200012000-00013
Keywords
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; assessment; community; epidemiology
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective: The current diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) require that symptoms emerge prior to age 7 in order for a formal diagnosis to be considered. However, this age-of-onset criterion (AOC) has recently been questioned on bath theoretical and empirical grounds. Method: Data from 4 annual waves of interviews with 9- to 16-year-olds from the Great Smoky Mountains Study were analyzed. Results: Confirming previous studies, a majority of youths who had enough symptoms to meet criteria for ADHD were reported to have first exhibited these symptoms prior to age 7. Early onset of ADHD symptoms was associated with worse clinical outcomes in youths with the combined subtype of ADHD but not youths with the inattentive subtype. Conclusions: Findings support the continued inclusion of the AOC for the assessment of the combined but not necessarily the inattentive subtype of ADHD. Too few youths had a late onset of solely hyperactive-impulsive symptoms to evaluate the AOC for that group. However, regardless of the age of onset, youths who had elevated levels of ADHD symptoms were at increased risk for negative outcomes that may necessitate intervention.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available