Browsing by Author "Ränninranta, Riikka"

The purpose of this study is to examine whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) related to perinatal risk factors is linked to depressive symptoms and excessive alcohol consumption at age 40. There is a lot of scientific information about perinatal risk factors and their effects in childhood and connection to ADHD, but only few studies have researched adults. ADHD generally has a wide psychiatric comorbidity. This study examines whether ADHD related to perinatal risk factors is linked to depressive symptoms or excessive alcohol consumption in adulthood. Examinees consists of people who have 1) ADHD related to perinatal risks (n=45), 2) perinatal risks without ADHD (n=387) and 3) a control group (n=73). Research problems are: Does the ADHD group have 1) more depression symptoms and 2) more excessive alcohol consumption in their fourties than other groups, 3) is there a similar pattern of correlations between adulthood ADHD symptoms, depressive symptoms and alcohol consumption between all groups and 4) does alcohol consumption mediate the correlation between adulthood ADHD symptoms and depressive symptoms? ADHD related to perinatal risks had a connection to more substantial depressive symptoms comparing to other risk group but not to control group. Alcohol consumption on average did not differ from other groups. ADHD group did have more severe depressive symptoms and more harmful or addictional alcohol consumption. In all groups adulthood ADHD symptoms, depressive symptoms and alcohol consumption shared a similar correlation pattern. The correlation between ADHD and depressive symptoms was greatest and that correlation was strongest in the ADHD group. When the alcohol consumption was controlled over all groups, it was possible to notice that alcohol consumption mediates the correlation between adulthood ADHD and depressive symptoms. These results suggests that depressive symptoms and harmful alcohol consumption are possible associative problem to ADHD related to perinatal risks. This emphasized the significance of early symptoms recognizing and support to people with ADHD and also continuing psychosocial support until adulthood.