title: Children with ADHD symptoms have a higher risk for reading, spelling and math difficulties in the GINIplus and LISAplus cohort studies.
abstract: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia belong to the most common neuro-behavioral childhood disorders with prevalences of around 5% in school-aged children. It is estimated that 20-60% of individuals affected with ADHD also present with learning disorders. We investigated the comorbidity between ADHD symptoms and reading/spelling and math difficulties in two on-going population-based birth cohort studies. Children with ADHD symptoms were at significantly higher risk of also showing reading/spelling difficulties or disorder (Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.80, p = 6.59×10⁻¹³) as compared to children without ADHD symptoms. For math difficulties the association was similar (OR = 2.55, p = 3.63×10⁻⁰⁴). Our results strengthen the hypothesis that ADHD and learning disorders are comorbid and share, at least partially, the same underlying process. Up to date, it is not clear, on which exact functional processes this comorbidity is based.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Darina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Czamara
authors.forename: Carla M T
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Tiesler
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kohlböck
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berdel
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Carl-Peter
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koletzko
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schaaf
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: Olf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Herbarth
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Berg
authors.forename: Bertram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Müller-Myhsok
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schulte-Körne
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinrich
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D011932:Reading; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires