Childhood histories of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders in Japanese methamphetamine and inhalant abusers: Preliminary report

Abstract

Abstract The present study examined childhood histories of attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 54 methamphetamine and 12 inhalant abusers using the Wender Utah Rating Scale. The inhalant abusers experienced initial drinking at a younger age than methamphetamine abusers ( P = 0.038). The Wender Utah Rating Scale score was significantly higher in the inhalant abusers than in the methamphetamine abusers ( P = 0.013) although 83.3% of inhalant and 55.6% of methamphetamine abusers had higher scores than the cut‐off for ADHD. These findings suggest that drug abuse is associated with childhood ADHD, and that inhalant abusers have a higher incidence of childhood ADHD than methamphetamine abusers.