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Latest Mental Health News<\/h3>\n
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THURSDAY, Aug. 27, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
Young adults who’ve had attention-deficit\/hyperactivity<\/a> disorder (ADHD<\/a>) since childhood are at increased risk for road crashes, researchers say.<\/p>\n But there is no increased risk for those whose ADHD symptoms<\/a> have decreased, according to the study published online recently in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry<\/i>.<\/p>\n For the study, the researchers analyzed data from 441 children with ADHD<\/a> and 231 children without ADHD<\/a>. They were followed from age 7 to 25 as part of a study that involved six centers in the United States and one in Canada.<\/p>\n The investigators looked at participants’ ADHD<\/a> symptoms and driving records, as well as other health conditions. The other conditions included oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, antisocial personality disorder<\/a>, and substance use during childhood and into adulthood.<\/p>\n Young adults with and without a history of ADHD<\/a> got driving licenses at similar ages and at similar rates, the findings showed.<\/p>\n Compared with people with no history of ADHD<\/a>, the rate of car crashes was 1.45 times higher for adults who had a history of childhood ADHD<\/a>, and 1.81 times higher for those with continuing symptoms.<\/p>\n However, crash rates were the same among adults who never had ADHD<\/a> and those whose ADHD symptoms<\/a> remitted.<\/p>\n “Extant research shows that ADHD is associated with more traffic violations, speeding violations, license suspensions and risky driving behaviors,” said study lead author Arunima Roy, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada.<\/p>\n Roy noted in a journal news release that the likelihood of risky driving increases when childhood ADHD<\/a> persists into adulthood.<\/p>\n “Prior research from our group as well as by others also shows that, aside from driving behaviors, a persistence of ADHD into adulthood can impair functioning in other domains,” Roy said. “These domains can include occupational performance, educational attainment, emotional functioning, substance use and justice involvement.”<\/p>\n — Robert Preidt<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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