History of Childhood Hyperactivity in a Clinic Population of Opiate Addicts

Abstract

Although childhood hyperactivity has been shown to be related to a variety of adult psychiatric disorders, no previous study has specifically explored its relation to adult opiate addiction. In this study, 22 per cent of a population of 157 opiate addicts seeking treatment reported childhood histories of hyperactivity. Demographic and developmental features such as high male to female sex ratio, normal intelligence quotient but lower level of educational and occupational achievement, and earlier arrest record supported the retrospective diagnosis. In addition, the subgroup with a history of childhood hyperactivity differed in symptom and personality measures from those without such a history in a way suggesting that those with a history of hyperactivity in childhood were manifesting adult sequelae of the disorder.