Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 1997; 47:87-97.
Influences on adolescent substance dependence: conduct disorder, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and gender.
Whitmore, E. A., Mikulich, S. K., Thompson, L. L., Riggs, P. D., Aarons, G. A., and Crowley, T. J.
For this study we assessed 285 male and 82 female adolescents referred for comorbid conduct disorder (CD) and substance dependence (SD) using standardized diagnostic interviews. We hypothesized that the prevalence and severity of CD, major depressive disorder (MDD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) would differ by gender, and that these conditions would associate differentially with severity of SD in males and females. We found that males and females did not differ significantly in severity of substance involvement, MDD, or ADHD, but males had more severe CD. MDD severity was the only variable significantly associated with SD severity for females, while for males, severity of CD combined with MDD and ADHD was significantly associated with SD severity. Among referred adolescents, CD, MDD and ADHD may all be important contributing factors of SD in males, while in females, depression may be the primary variable related to SD.
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