ADHD Status and Arrest History in an Adult Population Sample

• In Event: Mental Health among Incarcerated Populations

Abstract

A considerable body of literature has identified ADHD as a precursor of adolescent and adult criminality. Its exact causal status remains unclear, however, given the strong correlations with other comorbid conditions and disadvantaged family backgrounds that are also associated with early onset offending. Research on the crime-ADHD connection has variously identified those “with ADHD” using self-reported symptoms, parental descriptions, ever being prescribed ADHD medications, and positive responses on an array of assessment instruments, but rarely using a clinically validated ADHD screening tool or a diagnostic interview. This research tends to have detailed measures of criminality, but weaker measures of ADHD status. Our study reverses this by applying a sophisticated, valid screening tool to assess the prevalence of ADHD in an adult population survey in Ontario. While we find the expected relationship between ADHD symptomology and arrest history, we develop a model which considers whether strong vs. weak social bonds mediate the link between ADHD and criminality. We conclude that ADHD is less a direct cause of crime, as suggested by the neuropsychological explanation, than a risk factor for criminality in the way it hampers the formation of conventional social bonds.

Authors

• Mark van der Maas, University of Toronto

• Patricia Gail Erickson, University of Toronto