THE STABILITY OF DIMENSIONS OF BEHAVIOR IN ADHD AND NORMAL-CHILDREN OVER AN 8-YEAR FOLLOW-UP

The present study reports on standardized behavioral ratings received by a large sample of hyperactive children meeting research diagnostic criteria (n = 108) and a community control sample of normal children ( n = 61) who were followed prospectively over 8 years into adolescence. On some parent-report measures both groups declined in the severity o f their behavior problems across time, while on other measures only th e hyperactive group declined, but the hyperactives always remained mor e deviant than the controls at followup. The hyperactives and controls also differed on most teacher and self-report ratings at followup. Th e greatest degree of agreement between raters at adolescence was betwe en parent and youth ratings. These results are consistent with previou s research demonstrating more deviant scores for hyperactive children than controls on various rating scales at adolescent followup. They al so are consistent with research showing significant longitudinal conti nuity of both internalizing and externalizing behavioral pathology.