LONDON, July 3:
Children who suffer from psychiatric disorders such as depression or ADHD are at a higher risk of developing addiction later in life, a study has found.
Children’s health and well-being while growing up can be indicators of the potential health issues they may encounter years later.
Based on a large amount of data from previous studies on these participants, researchers from Vrije Universiteit and University Medical Centre Groningen in the Netherlands identified a correlation between various psychiatric disorders among children and later risk of developing addictions.
They found that individuals diagnosed in childhood with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)/conduct disorder (CD), and depression had an increased risk of developing addictions.
Results concerning anxiety were less clear. The risk may depend on the specific type of anxiety disorder, but to date, no studies have focused on this topic. “We know that ADHD in childhood increases the risk for later substance-related disorders, but until now, no systematic evaluation of other childhood psychiatric disorders had been conducted,” said Annabeth P Groenman, researcher at University Medical Centre Groningen.
“Our findings show that not only ADHD increased the risk of addictions, but that other childhood psychiatric disorders also increased risk,” said Groenman.
“This indicates the importance of early detection of mental health problems in a wider group. Addiction is a major cause of immense personal, familial, and societal burden, and prevention is therefore an important goal,” he said. (PTI)
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