Adoptive and biological families of children and adolescents with ADHD.
OBJECTIVE
Using an adoption study design, the authors addressed the issue of genetics in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).


METHODS
This study examined the rates of ADHD and associated disorders in the first-degree adoptive relatives of 25 adopted probands with ADHD and compared them with those of the first-degree biological relatives of 101 nonadopted probands with ADHD and 50 nonadopted, non-ADHD control probands.


RESULTS
Six percent of the adoptive parents of adopted ADHD probands had ADHD compared with 18% of the biological parents of nonadopted ADHD probands and 3% of the biological parents of the control probands.


CONCLUSIONS
Results of this study lend support to the hypothesis that ADHD has a genetic component.
Sprich
S
S
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program of the Psychiatry Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, USA.
Biederman
J
J
Crawford
M H
MH
Mundy
E
E
Faraone
S V
SV
D000293:Adolescent; D000300:Adoption; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D009679:Nuclear Family; D015995:Prevalence