Growth deficits and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder revisited: impact of gender, development, and treatment.
OBJECTIVE
Although the relationship between putative growth deficits and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been examined in boys, this issue has not been evaluated in girls.


METHODS
Height and weight were examined in 124 female ADHD children and 116 female controls using age and parental height corrections, attending to issues of pubertal stage and treatment. Also, we examined the interaction between ADHD status and gender on growth outcomes using data from 124 ADHD and 109 control males.


RESULTS
The ADHD-growth association was not moderated by gender. No deficits in age-adjusted height or age and height-adjusted weight were detected in ADHD girls. Also, we found no association between growth measurements and psychotropic treatment, malnutrition, short stature, pubertal development, family history of ADHD, or psychiatric comorbidity, except for major depression: ADHD girls with major depression were on average 7.6 kg heavier than ADHD girls without depression, adjusting for age and height.


CONCLUSIONS
No growth deficits appear to be associated with ADHD or its treatment in females. These findings add to a growing literature supporting the notion that stimulant treatment does not have an adverse impact on ADHD children's growth and development.
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Unit of the Psychiatry Department, Massachusetts General Hospital. Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. jbiederman@partners.org
Joseph
J
Biederman
Stephen V
SV
Faraone
Michael C
MC
Monuteaux
Elizabeth A
EA
Plunkett
Julie
J
Gifford
Thomas
T
Spencer
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001827:Body Height / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008598:Menstruation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000523:psychology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011627:Puberty / Q000187:drug effects / Q000523:psychology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs