Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder/learning disabilities (ADHD/LD): parental characterization and perception

Sixty-six parents of adolescents (mean age, 14.8 years), who attended special education classes and who were diagnosed as having attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder/learning disabilities (ADHD/LD), were interviewed. The comorbidity of the ADHD group included emotional lability and/or depression, 70%; oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), 67%; obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), 44%; addiction to buying, 44%; and aggressiveness, 62%. Twenty-one percent were either involved in the past or presently using drugs. Nine percent had attempted suicide. According to their parents, the main characteristic of these adolescents was low self-image. Parents enumerated five negative characteristics: impulsiveness; nervousness; angered easily ('short fused'); aggressiveness with cursing and outbursts; and impaired sociability with impoliteness.