A national epidemiological study of offending and its relationship with ADHD symptoms and associated risk factors.

• Published in: Journal of Attention Disorders
• Main Authors: Gudjonsson, Gisli H, Sigurdsson, Jon Fridrik, Sigfusdottir, Inga Dora, Young, Susan
• Other Authors: Kings Coll London, London WC2R 2LS, England, Univ Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland, Landspitali, Reykjavik, Iceland, Columbia Univ, Teachers Coll, Dept Hlth & Behav Studies, New York, NY 10027 USA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2014
• Subjects: ADHD; Afbrotamenn; Árásarhneigð; Geðsjúkdómar; Adolescent; Aggression; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/epidemiology*; Attitude; Comorbidity; Conduct Disorder/epidemiology; Criminals/psychology*; Epidemiologic Studies; Female; Humans; Iceland/epidemiology; Juvenile Delinquency/statistics & numerical data*; Male; Mental Disorders/epidemiology*; Mood Disorders/epidemiology; Peer Group; Questionnaires; Risk Factors; Self Concept; Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology; Violence/statistics & numerical data*; Young Adult; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology; Criminals/statistics & numerical data; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/325403; https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054712437584

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink at the bottom of the page The objective was to disentangle the relationship between offending, ADHD, and comorbid risk factors. A total of 11,388 students in further education completed a questionnaire, which measured nonviolent and violent delinquency, current ADHD symptoms, conduct disorder, substance use, association with delinquent peers, emotional lability, anger problems, violent attitudes, and low self-esteem. The nonviolent and violent delinquency measures correlated significantly with all the predictor measures, with small to large effect sizes. Multiple regressions showed that after controlling for age and gender, ADHD contributed 8.2% and 8.8% to the variance in nonviolent and violent delinquency, respectively, but these effects were largely mediated by the comorbid measures, particularly substance use, association with delinquent peers, and conduct disorder. The relationship between ADHD symptoms and offending among young people is largely explained indirectly by comorbid factors. A key prevention is to address substance use problems and association with delinquent peers. Ministry of Education in Iceland