title: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder: fact or artifact?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To clarify whether the symptoms of inattention and distractibility commonly seen in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) represent true comorbidity with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or a manifestation of obsessional anxiety.
  
  
  METHODS
  Phenotypic features and functional correlates of ADHD-like symptoms were examined in youths with and without OCD from a large sample of pediatric psychiatry patients consecutively referred since 1997.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number, frequency, and types of core ADHD symptoms as well as ADHD-associated functional indices were identical in all youths with DSM-IV-diagnosed ADHD irrespective of the presence or absence of comorbid OCD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that when ADHD-like symptoms are seen in youths with OCD, they reflect a true comorbid state of OCD plus ADHD and that the ADHD syndrome may be independent of OCD in comorbid youths.
authors.affiliation: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Clinic, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. geller@mclean.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biederman
authors.forename: Stephen V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Faraone
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cradock
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hagermoser
authors.forename: Noreen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zaman
authors.forename: Jean A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Frazier
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Coffey
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Spencer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales