Association of parental psychopathology to the comorbid disorders of boys with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder

This study examined whether particular forms of parental psychopathology ar e related to similar forms of comorbid psychopathology in offspring with at tention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Parental disorders were asse ssed using maternal interviews, and child disorders were assessed using mul tiple-informant interviews for 111 clinic-referred boys (aged 7-12) with Di agnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; America n Psychiatric Association, 1987) ADHD. Associations between parental and ch ild internalizing disorders and between parental and child externalizing di sorders were found, but associations across categories of disorder (i.e., i nternalizing and externalizing) were not. Similar relationships were observ ed in 66 clinic-referred boys without ADHD. These findings support specific modes of familial transmission, in contrast to theories that comorbidity s imply reflects more severe psychopathology in children with ADHD.