Childhood conduct problems, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and inattention as predictors of adult criminal activity.

This study reconsiders the relationship of childhood Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and childhood conduct problems with adult criminal activity by clarifying the role of the cardinal behaviors associated with the DSM-IV ADHD subtypes (inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity). Since their childhood (average age 9 years), 230 male and 75 female subjects have been followed prospectively and were interviewed as young adults (average age 26 at follow-up). Early childhood behavior ratings by parents and teachers were examined to determine the role of conduct problems, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and inattention in predicting adult criminal involvement as measured by both official arrest records and self-report. Results show that both hyperactivity-impulsivity and early conduct problems independently, as well as jointly, predict a greater likelihood of having an arrest record for males, but not for females. For male subjects with 10 or more self-reported crimes, both early conduct problems and hyperactivity-impulsivity were significant predictors, both alone and in combination. Therefore, it appears that predominantly the symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity, but not inattention, contribute to the risk for criminal involvement over and above the risk associated with early conduct problems alone.

Prospective study of tobacco smoking and substance dependencies among samples of ADHD and non-ADHD participants.

This study focused on an audience at high risk for heavy use of licit and illicit substances: young adults who as children had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The participants in this study were part of a longitudinal study of the life histories of 492 children, one third of whom were identified as hyperactive in 1974 and whose childhood symptom ratings and medical histories were used to establish Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., revised; DSM-III-R) ADHD diagnoses (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). The objectives of the study centered on describing (a) developmental history of tobacco use among ADHD and non-ADHD participants in a longitudinal sample, (b) the characteristic adult patterns of tobacco use from early adolescence through early adulthood, and (c) the relationship between ADHD status and tobacco and substance dependence outcomes. Adult data were obtained for 81% of the original 492 participants (77% of the ADHD and 86% of the controls). Lifetime and current tobacco use were assessed from child, adolescent, and adult data, yielding eight measures of smoking status. The study showed that participants with and without ADHD did not differ in age of initiation to smoking, but there was a significant difference in the age they began smoking regularly. By age 17, 46% of all participants with ADHD, as contrasted with 24% of the age-mate controls, reported smoking cigarettes daily. In adulthood, the proportion of participants with ADHD who were current smokers (42%) continued to exceed that of the age-mate controls (26%). Among current adult smokers, 35% with ADHD smoked daily as compared to 16% of the age-mate controls. There were significantly different lifetime tobacco dependence rates--40% compared to 19% for age-mate controls. The rates for cocaine dependence were 21% for participants with ADHD and 10% for age-mate controls. We reported a significant difference in rates of daily smoking and tobacco dependence for those with ADHD who had used stimulant medication in childhood in contrast to controls. Results were interpreted to support a possible link between ADHD treatment histories and levels of tobacco smoking and tobacco dependence in adulthood.

Tracking procedures and attrition containment in a long-term follow-up of a community-based ADHD sample.

Strategies are discussed for locating and interviewing a community-based sample of 492 adults, approximately half of whom were diagnosed in 1974 with ADHD. Completion rates, reasons for attrition, and amount of time and intensity of effort associated with subject location are reported. We found that 81% of the original sample had been located after 28 months, and that the reconstituted sample closely resembled the original larger childhood sample in background characteristics. Findings confirm that staff persistence was an important factor in containing attrition, and that longer contact intervals are likely to be a necessary feature of follow-up with socially and behaviorally disordered samples.

Pattern and progression of drug use among hyperactives and controls: a prospective short-term longitudinal study.

The pattern and progression in drug use across a 1-year interval was investigated for 54 hyperactives and 47 controls aged 13-18. Initiation and use rates between groups at Time 1 and Time 2 also were studied. Patterns of drug usage differed slightly between hyperactives and controls, with the hyperactives showing greater involvement with cigarettes. As well, the data for progression in use across the 1-year interval showed that hyperactives were by-and-large less predictable than controls in the progression of their drug use. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Development of a simplified diagnostic scoring method for the school version of the adaptive behavior scale.

The development of a standard scoring procedure by which the factor scores from the School Version of the Adaptive Behavior Scale can be combined was described. Subjects were 1,650 pupils in regular classes, 3,052 pupils in EMR programs, and 828 pupils in TMR classes from California and Florida. Discriminant analysis of the factor scores was computed in order to specify the discriminant coefficients to be used in predicting school classification status. Cross-validation of the discriminant analysis was obtained, and a procedure for creating a composite score was described.

Lateral asymmetry in perceptual judgments of reading disabled, hyperactive and control children.

Three groups of 11 year old boys, classified as reading-disabled/hyperactive, hyperactive, and normal controls, made same-different judgments to pairs of verbal or visuospatial stimuli presented simultaneously to the right or left side of a fixation point. Two experimental paradigms were used, one emphasizing comparison judgments from memory, the other, new comparison judgments. Reading-disabled boys made more errors of judgment than did controls. All subjects exhibited faster reaction times for different judgments of pairs appearing in the left visual field. Reaction times were longer and errors more numerous for judgments made when two stimuli were presented simultaneously, one to each visual field. Differences in performance for the two halves of the visual field are attributed to memory storage effects for overlearned stimuli. The deficiency in interhemispheric comparisons is attributed to immaturity of the cerebral commissures. The reading-disabled group appears to encompass two subgroups with differing modes of information processing.

Dimensions of adaptive behavior of retarded and nonretarded public-school children.

The AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale, Public School Revision, was administered to 2,618 elementary-school children from 7 to 13 years of age. The sample of children included White, Black, and Spanish-surname groups from regular and special-education classes. Factor analyses of domain scores indicated four dimensions of adaptive behavior: Functional Autonomy, Interpersonal Adjustment, Social Responsibility, and Intrapersonal Adjustment. Comparison of factor structure across school classification and age groups revealed the same four dimensions for all groups. Implications for the assessment of adaptive behavior were discussed.

Hyperactive children and the efficacy of psychoactive drugs as a treatment intervention.

Characteristics of hyperactive children, including speculation in regard to etiology, are reviewed. Drug effects studies and drug treatment of hyperactive behavior are examined, and unresolved issues are discussed. Conclusions indicate that individual differences in hyperative children should form the basis for treatment planning, rather than simply treating groups of children under the rubric "hyperactivity."

Current medical practice and hyperactive children.

An extensive questionnaire was completed by 48 physicians, detailing the medical and behavioral information they collect in forming a diagnosis of conditions that have hyperactive behavior as a symptom. Results indicate that diagnoses are made primarily on the basis of behavioral indicators, and indicators and information from the child's personal medical history, rather than from other data collected during the physical exam.

The comparative predictive efficiency of intellectual and nonintellectual components of high school functioning.

Much time is spent in elementary schools in assessment of cognitive attributes of children, little in measurement of noncognitive attributes. This study evaluates relative importance of early assessments of cognitive versus noncognitive variables as predictors of high school achievement and adjustment. Results demonstrate the critical, and frequently more important, contribution of the noncognitive attributes.