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 In the 12-15 age group in particular, girls with ADHD were three and
a half times more likely and boys were almost two and a half times
more likely to become parents in their teen years.
“We were expecting to find an increased risk, but not of this
magnitude,” said lead study author Dr. Soren Dinesen Ostergaard, of
Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark.
Recent studies have linked the inattentive and impulsive symptoms of
ADHD with risky sexual behavior, but it was unclear if that also
translates into higher rates of teen pregnancies and parenthood.
Past research has associated teenage parenthood with poor outcomes
for both parents and children, including poverty, unemployment,
increased health risks and behavioral problems, Ostergaard’s team
writes in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, May 11.
“Our findings indicate that increasing the level of sexual education
in children and adolescents with ADHD could be beneficial,”
Ostergaard told Reuters Health by email. “That should be tested in
future studies.”
The researchers looked at data for 2,698,052 people born between
1960 and 2001 in Denmark, including 27,479 with a diagnosis of ADHD.
They analyzed the likelihood of becoming a parent during the age
intervals 12-16, 17-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-24, 35-39 and over 40.
Overall, teens with ADHD are at least twice as likely as
counterparts without ADHD to become parents at ages 12-15 and 16-19,
and they are likely to have a larger total number of children by age
25, the researchers found .
“It is well established that becoming a teenage parent, irrespective
of your mental health status, is burdensome for both parents and
children,” Ostergaard said. “It is also well known that parenting is
often difficult for individuals with ADHD.”
He and his coauthors suggest creating new sexual education and
contraceptive counseling programs tailored for adolescents with
ADHD.
Before then, researchers should understand the reasons why ADHD is
associated with teenage pregnancy, noted Andrea Chronis-Tuscano of
the University of Maryland at College Park who wasn’t involved in
the study.
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Her own research centers on factors that influence risk for
undesirable outcomes among children and young people with ADHD, such
as risky sexual behavior among college students.
These factors can provide clues about how to intervene, she told
Reuters Health. “In this case, maybe we could work on enhancing
relationships with parents to prevent negative outcomes, rather than
just teaching a safe sex program, which doesn’t address the
impulsive nature of ADHD.”
Other factors to consider in future studies include individual
beliefs and attitudes, as well as family factors such as education
level and romantic relationships, said Dustin Sarver of the
University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, who wasn’t
involved in the new study.
The Danish study establishes that the association between ADHD and
teenage parenthood exists, and now researchers must understand the
“why” and “how,” Sarver said.
“The big step right now is awareness. Teenagers aren’t going to shy
away from sex, and impulsivity only magnifies the potential
problem,” he told Reuters Health. “I’ve found that parents are
surprised to learn their children, especially girls, are at a higher
risk, but they’re glad to have the issue raised so they can think
ahead about how to address it.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2qgYlIs
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2017.
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reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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