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Youth Drug Abuse, ADHD and Related Disorders

There are two major aims with this study.
1. To describe the developmental trajectory of (a) a community-based sample of youth with a childhood diagnosis of ADHD that has been prospectively followed from childhood into adulthood (approximately a 17-year span), and (b) a clinical sample of youth that received drug abuse treatment during adolescence (variable time span).
2. To examine the association of phenotypes of drug involvement severity and risk alleles that prior research has suggested to be associated with drug abuse and externalizing disorders. The sample (N=607) consists of three groups based on youth status: Treatment, High Risk, and Control. These groups are defined as follows: Treatment - attended treatment or a brief intervention for a substance use disorder during adolescence (n=402); High Risk - elevated scores on standardized measures of disruptive behaviors during childhood based on teacher and parent reports (n=142); Control - normative scores during childhood on standardized measures of disruptive behaviors based on teacher and parent reports, and absent of any DSM-based behavioral/mental disorder when assessed during childhood based on parent report (n=66). Among the 610 participants who provided DNA, 607 are usable samples.