Table 1.
Mental health and functional outcomes at age 18 years comparing remitted, persistent, and late-onset ADHD groups with those who never had ADHD
| Young adult outcomes | Never ADHD | Remitted ADHD | Persistent ADHD | Late-onset ADHD | Persistent vs remitted | Persistent vs late-onset | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N=1681 | N=193 | N=54 | N=112 | ||||||
| Mental health | N (%) | N (%) | OR, p value | N (%) | OR, p value | N (%) | OR, p value | OR, p value | OR, p value |
| Depression | 300 (17.9) | 41 (21.4) | 1.40, 0.096 | 19 (35.2) | 2.73, 0.002 | 48 (42.9) | 3.41, <0.001 | 2.00, 0.049 | 0.75, 0.451 |
| Anxiety | 108 (6.4) | 11 (5.8) | 1.18, 0.647 | 13 (24.1) | 6.07, <0.001 | 18 (16.1) | 2.91, <0.001 | 5.35, 0.001 | 1.80, 0.209 |
| Conduct disorder | 200 (11.9) | 45 (23.6) | 1.53, 0.033 | 20 (38.5) | 3.49, <0.001 | 39 (35.1) | 4.16, <0.001 | 2.22, 0.031 | 0.93, 0.863 |
| Suicide/self-harm | 218 (13.0) | 25 (13.0) | 1.09, 0.711 | 15 (27.8) | 2.88, 0.003 | 30 (26.8) | 2.37, <0.001 | 2.64, 0.014 | 1.36, 0.454 |
| Substance use | N (%) | N (%) | OR, p value | N (%) | OR, p value | N (%) | OR, p value | OR, p value | OR, p value |
| Cannabis dependence | 54 (3.2) | 11 (5.7) | 1.11, 0.780 | 8 (14.8) | 3.91, 0.006 | 13 (11.6) | 3.96, <0.001 | 3.16, 0.020 | 1.21, 0.745 |
| Illicit drug use | 260 (15.5) | 42 (21.8) | 1.18, 0.422 | 16 (29.6) | 1.94, 0.052 | 34 (30.4) | 2.35, <0.001 | 1.62, 0.171 | 0.92, 0.840 |
| Alcohol dependence | 182 (10.8) | 32 (16.6) | 1.47, 0.074 | 7 (13.0) | 1.12, 0.796 | 35 (31.5) | 3.88, <0.001 | 0.78, 0.601 | 0.30, 0.014 |
| Psychosocial | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | β, p value | Mean (SD) | β, p value | Mean (SD) | β, p value | β, p value | β, p value |
| Life satisfaction | 3.92 (0.7) | 3.75 (0.7) | -0.05, 0.034 | 3.48 (0.9) | -0.09, 0.004 | 3.44 (0.8) | -0.15, <0.001 | -0.15, 0.064 | 0.01, 0.913 |
| Social isolation | 3.11 (4.2) | 3.73 (4.6) | 0.01, 0.626 | 4.45 (5.2) | 0.04, 0.189 | 4.41 (4.7) | 0.07, 0.007 | 0.07, 0.346 | 0.02, 0.797 |
| Problematic technology use | 4.18 (3.6) | 4.80 (4.2) | 0.05, 0.066 | 7.77 (5.4) | 0.16, <0.001 | 8.01 (4.7) | 0.23, <0.001 | 0.31, 0.001 | 0.03, 0.792 |
| Physical health | N (%) | N (%) | OR, p value | N (%) | OR, p value | N (%) | OR, p value | OR, p value | OR, p value |
| Obesity | 139 (8.4) | 24 (12.7) | 1.74, 0.040 | 9 (17.0) | 2.35, 0.046 | 13 (11.8) | 1.34, 0.353 | 1.38, 0.519 | 1.58, 0.342 |
| Daily cigarette smoking | 316 (18.8) | 70 (36.3) | 2.06, <0.001 | 20 (37.0) | 2.29, 0.005 | 44 (39.6) | 2.60, <0.001 | 1.09, 0.779 | 0.87, 0.683 |
| Emergency department visit | 321 (19.1) | 47 (24.4) | 1.22, 0.287 | 17 (31.5) | 1.81, 0.044 | 34 (30.4) | 1.79, 0.006 | 1.51, 0.223 | 0.99, 0.987 |
| Socioeconomic | N (%) | N (%) | OR, p value | N (%) | OR, p value | N (%) | OR, p value | OR, p value | OR, p value |
| Low educational attainment | 263 (15.7) | 96 (50.3) | 4.73, <0.001 | 35 (64.8) | 10.80, <0.001 | 37 (33.0) | 2.43, <0.001 | 2.07, 0.032 | 4.23, <0.001 |
| NEET status | 151 (9.0) | 43 (22.3) | 2.57, <0.001 | 16 (29.6) | 4.11, <0.001 | 20 (17.9) | 1.91, 0.025 | 1.60, 0.221 | 1.89, 0.123 |
| Criminal cautions/convictions | 133 (7.9) | 50 (25.9) | 2.59, <0.001 | 13 (25.0) | 2.70, 0.003 | 17 (15.3) | 1.97, 0.031 | 1.08, 0.832 | 1.22, 0.647 |
Statistical comparisons and effect sizes adjusted for gender and parental socioeconomic status. Statistically significant findings are presented in bold. OR=odds ratio, β=standardized beta, NEET = not in education, employment or training. Groups with childhood ADHD were more likely to be male (remitted 72.5%, persistent 66.7%), compared with the never ADHD group (44.2% male, both p<0.001); there was no significant difference in the gender distribution between the never ADHD and late-onset ADHD groups (late-onset 44.6% male). All ADHD groups were more likely to have parents with lower SES than those who never had ADHD (remitted 48.7% p<0.001, persistent= 44.4% p= 0.03, late-onset 42.0 p=0.01, compared with never ADHD 30.5%).