Family study of girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Objective: Because attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is relat ively infrequent among girls, little is known about the causes of ADHD in g irls. To help fill this gap in the literature, the authors assessed the fam ilial transmission of ADHD in families ascertained through girls. Method: Interviewers who were blind to diagnosis administered structured ps ychiatric interviews to 140 girls with ADHD and their 417 first-degree rela tives and to 122 girls without ADHD and their 369 first-degree relatives. Results: The relatives of the ADHD girls had a significantly higher prevale nce of ADHD, according to either the DSM-III-R or DSM-IV definition, than t he relatives of the comparison girls. However, this did not differ from the prevalence the authors reported previously for families of boys with ADHD. Like the boys' families, the relatives of the girl probands also had signi ficantly higher prevalences of antisocial, mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, although the prevalence of familial antisocial disorders was lo wer than had been observed in the boys' families. There was no association between the DSM-IV subtypes of the probands and relatives. Conclusions: The familial transmission of ADHD and comorbid disorders gener alizes to families of girls with ADHD. Neither proband gender nor subtype i nfluences the familial transmission of ADHD.