Growing up with ADHD: findings from an 18-year longitudinal follow-up study of adults with childhood ADHD, their siblings, and controls.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective non-randomized longitudinal cohort study with sibling and healthy control comparison groups
PubMed 42365682 · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2026.117308
What was done
Researchers conducted an 18-year prospective longitudinal follow-up study evaluating adult outcomes across psychiatric status, behavioral and emotional problems, academic and professional functioning, adaptive functioning, neurocognition, physical health, and healthcare service utilization. The sample comprised 421 adults: individuals diagnosed with childhood ADHD (n=154, mean age 27.4 ± 3.7 years, 68% male), their unaffected siblings (n=138, mean age 29.6 ± 4.4 years, 35% male), and control participants (n=129, mean age 28.2 ± 3.5 years, 40% male). Post-hoc analyses compared controls against individuals with persistent adult ADHD versus remitted ADHD.
What was found
Childhood ADHD was associated with poorer adult functioning on >60% of assessed outcomes across all evaluated domains, showing small-to-large effect sizes. Specific moderate-to-large differences included elevated rates of adult ADHD, depression, externalizing problems, autistic traits, and poorer neurocognitive performance compared to controls. Unaffected siblings showed functional outcomes comparable to controls. Adults with persistent ADHD demonstrated worse functioning in psychiatric, behavioral/emotional, adaptive, and physical health domains compared to those with remitted ADHD, though both ADHD subgroups exhibited worse functioning than controls. The abstract reported no exact numerical values, odds ratios, or confidence intervals.
Why it matters
This study establishes that functional impairments from childhood ADHD persist across a broad spectrum of adult health and life domains, particularly when symptoms persist into adulthood, while showing that unaffected siblings do not share this elevated risk profile.
Limits
The abstract provides no exact point estimates, confidence intervals, or p-values. Sex distribution was unbalanced between groups (68% male in the ADHD group versus 35% and 40% in sibling and control groups). The abstract does not report attrition rates over the 18-year follow-up or adjustments for childhood treatment and socioeconomic status.
Cited by
- supports A substantial proportion of children diagnosed with ADHD no longer meet diagnostic criteria for the disorder in adulthood.