Reciprocal developmental relations between ADHD and anxiety in adolescence: A within-person longitudinal analysis of commonly co-occurring symptoms

Aja Murray*, Arthur Cayne, Karen McKenzie, Bonnie Auyeung, George Murray, Denis Ribeaud, Mark Freeston, Manuel Eisner

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)
67 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Objective: Significant anxiety often occurs in the presence of ADHD symptoms; however, the reasons are not well understood. We aimed to establish whether the relations between ADHD symptons and anxiety are bidirectional or unidirectional. Method: Weexamined the developmental relations between ADHD and anxiety symptoms across adolescence (ages 13, 15, and 17) in a community-ascertained, normative longitudinal sample of 1,483 youth (52% male). We used an autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals (ALT-SR) to examine within-person developmental relations between ADHD and anxiety symptoms to determine whether it is ADHD symptoms that lead to anxiety symptoms and/or the reverse. Results: Results suggested that there are reciprocal within-person developmental relations between ADHD and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: Our findings support the recommendation that targeting ADHD symptoms can be fruitful for addressing anxiety symptoms; however, they suggest that targeting anxiety symptoms may also benefit ADHD symptoms. Results also underline the importance of careful assessment for underlying ADHD symptoms among adolescents presenting with anxiety.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)109-118
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Attention Disorders
Volume26
Issue number1
Early online date14 Mar 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2022

Keywords

  • ADHD
  • comorbid anxiety
  • longitudinal study

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