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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffADHD can make life difficult for children. Children with ADHD:
- Often struggle in the classroom, which can lead to academic failure and judgment by other children and adults
- Tend to have more accidents and injuries of all kinds than children who don't have the disorder
- Have poor self-esteem
- Are more likely to have trouble interacting with and being accepted by peers and adults
- Are at increased risk of alcohol and drug abuse and other delinquent behavior
Coexisting conditions
ADHD doesn't cause other psychological or developmental problems. However, children with ADHD are more likely than are other children to also have conditions such as:
- Learning disabilities, including problems with understanding and communicating
- Anxiety disorders, which may cause overwhelming worry, nervousness and worsening of ADHD symptoms until the anxiety is treated and under control
- Depression, which frequently occurs in children with ADHD
- Bipolar disorder, which includes depression as well as manic behavior
- Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), generally defined as a pattern of negative, defiant and hostile behavior toward authority figures
- Conduct disorder, marked by antisocial behavior such as stealing, fighting, destroying property, and harming people or animals
- Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive muscle or vocal tics
References
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed Jan. 7, 2013.
- Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/index.shtml. Accessed Jan. 7, 2013.
- ADHD factsheet. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/. Accessed Jan. 7, 2013.
- Bader A, et al. Complementary and alternative therapies for children and adolescents with ADHD. Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 2012;24:760.
- Rucklidge JJ. Gender differences in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 2010;33:357.
- Vaughan B, et al. Pharmacotherapy of pediatric attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 2012;21:941.
- Emond SK, et al. Management strategies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A regional deliberation on the evidence. Postgraduate Medicine. 2012;124:58.
- Kim DH, et al. Relationship between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and perceived parenting practices of school-age children. Journal of Clinical Nursing. In press. Accessed Jan. 8, 2013.
- Parenting a child with ADHD. National Resource Center on AD/HD. http://www.chadd.org. Accessed Jan. 8, 2013.
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Facts about ADHD. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/NCBDDD/adhd/facts.html. Accessed Jan. 25, 2013.
- Jensen PS (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 31, 2013.
- Swintak CC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 21, 2013.
- Goodlad JK, et al. Lead and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review. 2013;33:417.
- Lindstrom K, et al. Preterm birth and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in school children. Pediatrics. 2011;127:858.
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