Psychiatric and developmental disorders in families of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
N. J. Roizen, T. A. Blondis, M. Irwin, A. Rubinoff, J. Kieffer and M. A. Stein
Department of Pediatrics, Wyler Children's Hospital, Ill, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether a pediatric family history obtained via a
brief parent interview would reveal a high prevalence of psychiatric and
developmental disorders in the family members of children with
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with a group of
children with another chronic developmental disability, Down syndrome (DS).
DESIGN: A controlled cross-sectional group comparison study. SETTING: An
interdisciplinary hyperactivity and learning problem clinic and a DS clinic
located in a large, urban tertiary care teaching hospital in Chicago, Ill.
PARTICIPANTS: A total of 140 children with ADHD and 163 children with DS of
comparable socioeconomic status. MEASURES: Using a screening questionnaire
and parent interview, the development pediatricians obtained a family
history. RESULTS: By parent report, children with ADHD were significantly
more likely than the control children with DS to have a parent affected by
alcoholism (P = .007), other drug abuse (P < .001), depression (P <
.001), delinquency (P < .001), learning disabilities (P < .001), and
ADHD (P < .001). Similar patterns were evidenced in other first- and
second-degree relatives. CONCLUSIONS: The high reported frequency of
psychiatric and developmental disorders in the families of children with
ADHD requires that the treating clinician explore the area of family
psychiatric and developmental history and use the findings to formulate a
comprehensive treatment plan that includes anticipatory guidance and
psychosocial intervention.
