Comorbidity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and educational classification among in-patient populations of children and adolescents

This thesis is an ex post facto study of an in-patient population of 39 adolescents between the ages of twelve and eighteen at a New Jersey State Psychiatric Hospital for Adolescents and 74 pre-adolescents and adolescents between the ages of seven and fifteen at a Private Residential School in New Jersey. Of this population of N=113, n=48 were determined to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with an incidence rate of 42.5%. Significant co-morbidity of ADHD and Depression, Conduct Disorder/Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Psychotic Disorders, and Learning Disabilities were found. The incidence of co-morbidity of ADHD and Educational Classification was found to be significantly higher than the incidence researched among more diverse population groups as represented by the New Zealand (Anderson et. al., 1985) and Puerto Rico (Bird et. al., 1988) large population surveys. The ranked correlation between ADHD and Educational Classification was found to be r=.985 (P≥.01), and between ADHD, Classification and Other Behavioral Disorders was found to be r=.854 (P≥.01) This procedure supports the premise of utilizing Child Study Teams to provide data to plan globally and programmatically as well as to prepare individual education plans