This study followed boys diagnosed with ADHD into young adulthood and compared them with men without ADHD from the Pittsburgh community. All 539 people in the analysis were male. Of these, 326 were in the ADHD group. As children, the ADHD group had been referred to a clinic and treated in a Pittsburgh summer program.
On average, the men with ADHD reached lower levels of schooling and work. The gap showed on nearly every school and job measure. At ages 19 to 22, they were more likely to be in no school than a four-year college. Still, results varied, and 30% of the ADHD group went to a four-year college.
By ages 23 to 32, the men with ADHD were more often out of work and school. Among those not in school, most of the ADHD group held unskilled jobs (72.5%). The comparison group had fewer in unskilled jobs (36%). The men with ADHD were also more often laid off.
Academic problems, discipline problems and achievement test scores at age 17 predicted schooling after high school. Once these, parent education and IQ were accounted for, the diagnosis itself did not predict the type of schooling after high school. As a clinic group, the ADHD group may not represent all children with ADHD. The analyses also did not include medication use. The authors suggest the study supports help aimed at these early predictors, plus continued ADHD treatment in young adulthood aimed at finishing further schooling and keeping steady work.
The numbers Stats and what the terms mean
The statistics behind the plain-language claims above.
- Kuriyan, 2012: odds of the ADHD group, compared with the comparison group, being in no school rather than four-year college at ages 19 to 22, with parent education and IQ controlled, OR 10.87 (95 % CI 4.95 to 23.81, p<0.001).
- Kuriyan, 2012: odds of the ADHD group, compared with the comparison group, being in vocational school rather than four-year college at ages 19 to 22, with parent education and IQ controlled, OR 6.02 (95 % CI 2.84 to 12.82, p<0.001).
- Kuriyan, 2012: share who had ever been laid off, ADHD group vs comparison group, controlling for age, 33 % vs 13 %, p<0.001.
- Kuriyan, 2012: share unemployed and not in school at ages 23 to 32, ADHD group vs comparison group, with parental education controlled, 16.6 % of the ADHD group vs 2.4 % of the comparison group (groups differed in employment and education status, p<0.001). What the terms mean:
- OR (odds ratio) shows how many times higher the odds of an outcome were in one group than in the other, so 1 means no difference.
- 95 % CI is the range of values the data are consistent with; a range that does not include 1 suggests the difference is unlikely to be chance.
- p is how likely a gap this large would be if there were no real difference, so p<0.001 means it is very unlikely to be down to chance.
Source: Kuriyan A, Pelham W, Molina B, et al.. Young Adult Educational and Vocational Outcomes of Children Diagnosed with ADHD. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology (2012). doi:10.1007/s10802-012-9658-z