The relationship between ADHD and alcohol-related traffic violations

Abstract

The objective of this study was to survey the probability of ADHD-symptoms in a group of substance abuse traffic offenders and the connection between alcohol consumption and ADHD symptoms. Therefore gender and age differences were tested, using t-tests and analyses of variance. Categorical group comparisons were performed via contingency tables for a norm group and for traffic offenders. To survey the influence of alcohol consumption on ADHD-symptoms analyzes of covariance were calculated. Traffic offenders reported a higher occurrence of ADHD-symptoms than the norm group did. The probability of ADHD is nearly 2.5-times higher in the group of substance abuse traffic offenders compared to the norm group. Increasing alcohol consumption leads to significantly higher occurrence of ADHD-symptoms. In drivers with substance-related traffic offenses a higher occurrence of ADHD can be expected. Attention should be paid to the occurrence of ADHD when treating traffic offenders with alcohol-related offences.