Children with ADHD are more likely to become adult smokers

• While the researchers who reported these findings looked only at self-reported symptoms and not a clinical diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the study could help in fine-tuning smoking prevention programs.
• "This gives us some additional insight into the kinds of things that place people at risk for smoking, and that is all of these [ADHD] symptoms," said study author Scott H. Kollins, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center.
• The findings appear in the October issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
• These same conduct problems are also often linked to drug abuse and, indeed, an earlier study found that children diagnosed with ADHD were more likely to use illicit drugs as adolescents and to start using at an earlier age.
• Other studies have also shown an association between ADHD and smoking, and some research has suggested that inattentiveness might be at the root of the risk.
• "We do know that people who have a clinical diagnosis of ADHD smoke more than those who don't," Kollins said.
• To that end, they looked at data on 13,852 individuals who had participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and who had provided information on ADHD symptoms such as inattentiveness and impulsivity, as well as on their smoking status.
• Each reported symptom of ADHD increased the likelihood of regular smoking.
• Participants who reported ADHD symptoms also started smoking earlier, and smoked more cigarettes than individuals who did not report such symptoms.
• The working hypothesis is that "people who are diagnosed with ADHD may experience the effects of nicotine and nicotine withdrawal in a way that's a little bit different from those who aren't diagnosed or who don't have many symptoms," Kollins said.