title: Childhood ADHD and addictive behaviours in adolescence: a canadian sample.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare rates of early addictive behaviours in a clinic sample of youth with childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with those in community populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed 142 adolescents (14.1 ± 1.14 years), diagnosed with ADHD before age 12, about early substance use and problem gambling using questions from two cross-sectional population studies: the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, Ontario subsample, (N=1,317; 10-15 years) and the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (N=9,288; 12-18 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ADHD sample reported using cigarettes, 17.8% (95% CI 12.1-25.5), alcohol, 27.1% (20.1-35.5), cannabis, 14.2% (8.9-21.7), at a similar or lower rate than the NLSCY (cigarettes, 28.3% (25.8-30.9), alcohol, 28.6% (26.0-31.3), cannabis, 16.5% (14.0-19.4), and OSDUHS samples (cigarettes, 21.9% (20.2-23.7), alcohol, 58.6% (56.0-61.2), cannabis, 26.0% (23.9-28.2). With regards to gambling, there is a non-significant trend for ADHD youth to report gambling more frequently than the provincial average, 7.9% (3.3-17.9) vs. 4.3% (2.9-6.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings support the emerging literature that youth diagnosed with ADHD in childhood may not be at greater risk for onset of substance use in early adolescence. The study identified two areas that warrant further investigation in this population; the possible increased risk for substance use among females and a trend toward early onset of gambling behaviours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario.
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ostojic
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, and Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Charach
authors.affiliation: Child, Youth and Family Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario.
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McAuley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, and Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crosbie
keywords: attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; gambling behaviour; substance use