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Summations
In light of our results, we confirm that ADHD can be persistent into adulthood with high frequency and can predispose to the development of other psychiatric disorders or social maladjustment with detrimental consequences for quality of life in adulthood.
The high prevalence of antisocial behavior and/or criminality activities observed in adult ADHD suggests that antisocial personality disorder and criminal activities can be the evolution of childhood oppositional and impulsive behavior.
Anxiety and depressive disorders are the most frequent psychiatric disorders associated with ADHD in adulthood. Alcohol and cannabis use are the most frequent complications of adult persistent ADHD.
Considerations
The instability of ADHD diagnosis over time, much increased by cultural changes and scientific measures over a period of 35 years, may have conditioned the rate of adulthood persistence.
The lack of many data regarding specific population categories and outcomes limits the generalizability of our observations. Further prospective studies in different populations with differentiated outcomes need to confirm these results.
The high rate of persistent ADHD suggests that this condition may not just be a neurodevelopmental disorder, but more clinical trials are needed to properly diagnose and treat this “new disorder” in adulthood.
In this review, after an introduction concerning ADHD clinical issues, we evaluated the ADHD persistence in adulthood and the comorbidity occurrence of psychiatric disorders, substance/alcohol use and antisocial personality or criminal activities with conviction, and/or jail among individuals with ADHD diagnosis in childhood. Our review included the description of research strategies as well as methods, results, and conclusions of each study. After a qualitative and quantitative analysis of data collected from the studies included, the clinical relevance of ADHD and comorbid disorders and/or altered behavior in adulthood were discussed. Following a summary of findings, strengths, and limitations of this review, we highlighted the clinical issues related to ADHD and hypotheses for future research.
Introduction
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neuro-developmental disorder characterised by disability symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity–impulsivity, generally beginning by school age, causing impairment in more than one cognitive and functional dimension. The term ADHD was adopted by DSM-III-R and has been widely and steadily used since (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1987). The DSM-IV added other presentations: predominantly hyperactive, predominantly inattentive, and combined (Lange et al., 2010)....