Comorbid Burden in Adolescents and Young Adults with ADHD

Abstract

ADHD is a life-span-disorder which leads to significant impairments in every-day-life and is often accompanied by comorbid disorders. The symptom-severity varies age-group-specifically and in particular the transition from adolescence to adulthood can be seen as a sensitive phase. To examine the impact of comorbid burden in ADHD, a sample of N = 327 adolescents and young adults was chosen from a population-based-study and assigned to three different age-groups (14–17 years; 18–21 years; 22–25 years). Using two-factor analysis of (co-) variance the influence of age-group and ADHD-severity on comorbid burden was investigated. There was a significant main effect for ADHD but not for age-group or the interaction between both factors. Regarding sub-scale differences there was strong evidence for a negative influence of ADHD on psychological state in all age groups and an interaction between age-group and ADHD-severity regarding social support and satisfaction with life. The results show stable impairments through ADHD symptom severity. Although social support and satisfaction with life converge in group comparisons, ADHD-affected persons show much more severe psychological impairments than the non-affected-group. This has an impact on therapeutic intervention and – in addition to symptomatological treatment – also highlights the need to focus on other age-specific impairments.