Comorbidity of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder in children and adolescents
The aim of the study is to explore the impact of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) comorbidity in children
with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Six hundred children with ADHD (mean age=9.12 years), recruited from 2013 to 2017, participated in the
study. A total of 96 (16%) children with ADHD displayed a comorbidity with GAD. ADHD+GAD were compared
to 504 ADHD children without GAD in terms of cognitive and psychiatric profile, ADHD subtype and
family psychiatric history.
The ADHD+GAD, predominantly represented from ADHD combined (72.6%), displayed higher psychiatry
comorbidity, in particular with depressive disorders, and were associated with higher rates of maternal depression,
of ADHD in fathers, and bipolar disorders in second degree relatives. Moreover, younger preschoolprimary
school age children with ADHD+GAD showed significant higher frequency of depressive disorders
versus younger preschool-primary children with ADHD without GAD.
ADHD+GAD comorbidity represents a more complex clinical condition compared to ADHD without GAD,
characterized by the higher frequency of multiple comorbidities and by a psychiatric family with higher rates of
mood and disruptive disorders.