A study led by Yale School of Public Health assistant professor Jason Fletcher and University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Barbara Wolfe found that young people with ADHD are more likely to commit crimes as adults.

The researchers analyzed data on more than 13,000 adolescents that had been collected during the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

An Oct. 28 article by Yale Daily News contributing reporter Jennifer Nadelmann provided the following details:

The type of crime committed depended on whether the child was diagnosed with impulsive ADHD, inattentive ADHD or a combination of the two. Children with impulsive ADHD were more likely to commit impulsive crimes such as theft. Children with inattentive ADHD were more likely to engage in premeditated crimes, such as burglary and selling drugs.

Children with both impulsive and inattentive ADHD were less likely to commit crimes compared to children with the other subtypes. ...

The study recommended extensive school intervention programs for children with ADHD, who not only tend to perform worse in school but also leave school earlier than their peers. The programs, Fletcher and Wolfe said in the study, could be "dollars well spent in terms of crime and drug abuse averted."

Labels: research, crime

Posted By: Aspen/CRC