Childhood predictors of adult ADHD: Results from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative

Children with combined-type ADHD (both inattentive and impulsive-hyperactive symptoms at full threshold) had the highest persistence of ADHD into adulthood, with 84.5% continuing to meet criteria as a

Effect: decline; OR 12.4

Childhood ADHD severity of role impairment, defined as impairment across all four domains (home, school, social, personal relationships), significantly predicted adult persistence of ADHD after contro

Effect: decline; OR 2.0

Despite a strong dose-response relationship between number of childhood traumas and ADHD (ORs from 2.9 for one trauma to 10.4 for 3+ traumas), there was no significant association between number of ch

Effect: null; chi-sq(3) = 1.3, p = .74

Childhood ADHD treatment (medication or psychotherapy prior to age 16) was not significantly associated with adult persistence of ADHD.

Effect: null; OR 0.9

Comorbid child-adolescent major depressive disorder significantly predicted adult persistence of ADHD, while other comorbid disorders individually did not reach significance.

Effect: decline; OR 2.2

Having three or more child-adolescent DSM-IV disorders in addition to ADHD significantly predicted adult persistence, even though most individual comorbid conditions were not individually significant

Effect: decline; OR 1.7; CI: 95% CI 1.1-2.6

Paternal anxiety-mood disorder significantly predicted adult persistence of ADHD, while maternal anxiety-mood disorder did not (OR 1.2).

Effect: decline; OR 2.4

Parental antisocial personality disorder significantly predicted adult persistence of ADHD, with similar effect sizes for paternal (OR 2.1) and maternal (OR 2.3) ASPD.

Effect: decline; OR 2.2

A weighted composite risk index combining all significant predictors classified young people with ADHD into those with higher or lower risk of adult persistence with good accuracy (AUC = .76), with th

Effect: decline; AUC 0.76

Persistence of ADHD into adulthood did not differ significantly by respondent age or gender, even though men had significantly higher prevalence of childhood ADHD than women.

Effect: null

Childhood adversities were highly prevalent among respondents with childhood ADHD (71.6% experienced at least one) but were generally not significant predictors of adult ADHD persistence, except for p

Effect: null