The goals of this research were to assess the relationship between early childhood diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and later driving performance. Driving records were obtained for ADHD and comparison subjects who were participants in a prospective longitudinal study begun in 1974 to explore the identification, treatment, and life histories of hyperactive children. The subjects had been selected in 1974 from a representative sample of over 5,000 children in the school-age population of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in California. The analyses compared subjects diagnosed as having severe ADHD to all other subjects. The latter group included subjects with mild or moderate ADHD, plus subjects not diagnosed as having ADHD. Results showed the severe ADHD subjects more likely than the comparison group to have been convicted of the following moving violations: sign and signal, speeding, roadway marking, following too closely, and passing. For nonmoving violations, the percentage of convicted violators was significantly higher among the severe ADHDs in almost all categories (equipment, licensing, failure to appear in court, failure to pay fines, ignoring police authority). Statistically significant differences were not found between the severe ADHDs and the comparison group for most types of crashes. However, there again tended to be higher percentages among the severe ADHDs. Moreover, the only recorded crashes involving fatalities (2) occurred among the severe ADHDs. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting