Teens With ADHD More Likely To Drop Out Than Those With Other Behavioral Disorders
RSSBy SLJ Staff
Teens with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)--the most common childhood psychiatric condition in the United States--are less likely to finish high school on time than students with behavioral disorders considered more serious, according to a national study.
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Researchers at the University of California Davis School of Medicine found that nearly one-third of students with ADHD-twice the number of students with no psychiatric disorder-either drop out or delay high school graduation.
"Most people think that the student who is acting out, who is lying and stealing, is most likely to drop out of school," says Julie Schweitzer, an expert on ADHD at UC Davis's MIND Institute, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and the study's senior author. "But we found that students with the combined type of ADHD-the most common type-have a higher likelihood of dropping out than students with disciplinary problems."
The three types of ADHD include: the hyperactive type, the inattentive type, and the combined type. Symptoms include not being able to pay attention, daydreaming, being easily distracted, and being in constant motion, or unable to remain seated.
"This study shows that ADHD is a serious disorder that affects a child's ability to be successful in school and subsequently in a way that can limit success in life," adds Schweitzer. The study was published online in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.
The study, "Childhood and Adolescent-onset Psychiatric Disorders, Substance Use, and Failure to Graduate High School on Time," found that 32.3 percent of students with the combined type of ADHD-which includes hyperactive and inattentive symptoms-drop out of high school, compared to 15 percent of teens with no psychiatric disorder who drop out.
"Understanding the factors that contribute to dropping out of high school has major public-health implications, given that a third of youth in this country do not complete high school on time," says study author Elizabeth Miller, an assistant professor of pediatrics and an adolescent medicine specialist at UC Davis Children's Hospital. "Supporting mental-health interventions for students may have a significant impact on reducing high school dropout."
In 2006, an estimated 4.5 million children in the U.S. between 5 and 17 years of age were diagnosed with ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 9.5 percent of boys and 5.9 percent of girls are diagnosed with the condition.
The next group of teens with behavioral disorders most at-risk for dropping out are those with conduct disorder, with 31 percent of those kids dropping out of high school, says Joshua Breslau, associate professor of internal medicine and the study's lead author. Symptoms include aggression, lying, stealing, truancy, vandalism, and a general pattern of rule-breaking.
Breslau says the research shows there are different pathways to poor high school performance. "This study identifies multiple ways in which mental-health problems can affect education at the high school level," he explains. "Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder impacts achievement because it affects how well students are able to perform basic classroom tasks from paying attention to turning in their homework. Students with conduct disorder are able to do just as well as everyone else academically, but disciplinary issues and dealing with the routines of school life may cause them to drop out."
Those students with either the combined type of ADHD or the inattentive type, has the highest dropout rate at 28.6 percent. Those with mania, a mood disorder, and panic disorder dropped out at 26.6 and 24.9 percent, respectively. Students with other mental-health disorders-such as phobias (like fear of water), social phobia (fear of people), post-traumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder and depression-had dropout rates in the high teen- to low 20-percent range.
The study also examined the effects of substance use and abuse on high school graduation and found that among students who engage in substance use, including alcohol and other drugs, teens who smoke cigarettes are at greatest risk of dropping out.
The study found that 29 percent of students who used tobacco failed to complete high school on time. Only 20 percent of teens who used alcohol and 24.6 percent of teens who used drugs dropped out. However, when the three substances were examined together, the effect of drinking and using drugs was no longer significant, Breslau says.
"Kids who smoke had a much higher risk of dropping out than kids who drink alcohol or use other drugs,' he adds. "When we looked at smoking in combination with other substances, drinking, and using drugs did not increase one's risk of not completing high school on time. There's no additional increment of risk of dropping out once you account for smoking."
Researchers examined 43,000 racially diverse male and females in the U.S. over the age of 18 using data collected during 2001 and 2002 from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions.
