title: A national epidemiological study of offending and its relationship with ADHD symptoms and associated risk factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to disentangle the relationship between offending, ADHD, and comorbid risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 11,388 students in further education completed a questionnaire, which measured nonviolent and violent delinquency, current ADHD symptoms, conduct disorder, substance use, association with delinquent peers, emotional lability, anger problems, violent attitudes, and low self-esteem.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The nonviolent and violent delinquency measures correlated significantly with all the predictor measures, with small to large effect sizes. Multiple regressions showed that after controlling for age and gender, ADHD contributed 8.2% and 8.8% to the variance in nonviolent and violent delinquency, respectively, but these effects were largely mediated by the comorbid measures, particularly substance use, association with delinquent peers, and conduct disorder.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The relationship between ADHD symptoms and offending among young people is largely explained indirectly by comorbid factors. A key prevention is to address substance use problems and association with delinquent peers.
authors.affiliation: 1King's College London, England, UK.
authors.forename: Gisli H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Gudjonsson
authors.forename: Jon Fridrik
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sigurdsson
authors.forename: Inga Dora
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Sigfusdottir
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001290:Attitude; D015897:Comorbidity; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland / Q000453:epidemiology; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D010379:Peer Group; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult