This study tested whether early and developmentally atypical
substance use mediates risk for adult
substance use among children with
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (
ADHD), and whether that risk is substance-specific. Participants were children with
ADHD previously enrolled in a randomized controlled trial (RCT), and a demographically similar non-
ADHD group, assessed at 2 through 16 years after the original RCT baseline. Self-reports of heavy drinking,
marijuana use, daily smoking, and other
illicit drug use were collected at follow-ups to establish atypically early and frequent use. Models estimated statistically mediated effects of childhood
ADHD on adult
substance use via early substance involvement, with planned comparisons to evaluate substance specificity. Results supported the mediation hypothesis, showing that childhood
ADHD was associated with more frequent adult
substance use via early substance involvement for marijuana, cigarettes,
illicit drugs, and to a lesser extent, alcohol. Mediation was not escalated by comorbid childhood
conduct disorder or
oppositional defiant disorder except for early use of nonmarijuana
illicit drugs. Substance-specificity in the mediational pathway was largely absent except for cigarette use, where
ADHD-related early smoking most strongly predicted adult daily smoking. Findings from this study provide new evidence that atypically early
substance use associated with childhood
ADHD signals important cross-drug vulnerability by early adulthood, but cigarette use at a young age is especially associated with increased risk for habitual (daily) smoking specifically. Efforts to prevent, delay, or reduce substance experimentation should occur early and focus on factors relevant to multiple drugs of abuse in this at-risk population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).