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Test of Alternative Hypotheses Explaining the Comorbidity Between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Conduct Disorder

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Abstract

There is significant comorbidity between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CD). The conclusions of studies that examined the causes of comorbidity between ADHD and CD conflict, with some researchers finding support for the three independent disorders model and others finding support for the correlated risk factors model. We tested these models and eleven alternative hypotheses using the same analytical approach. The participants were 110 monozygotic twin pairs and 181 dizygotic twin pairs recruited from the Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center Twin Study. The three independent disorders model did not fit the data, whereas the correlated risk factors model fit the data well. Several other comorbidity models fit the data as well as or better than the correlated risk factors model. The results suggest that correlated risk factors are a better explanation for the comorbidity between ADHD and CD than a third, independent ADHD+CD subtype.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by NIH Grants DA13956, HD27802, MH16880, MH12100, MH38820, and MH04024. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association on June 30, 2004 in Aix en Provence, France. We thank Pak Sham and Fruhling Rijsdijk for their comments on using the Neale and Kendler model fitting approach in selected samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Soo Hyun Rhee, Erik G. Willcutt, Christie A. Hartman & John C. DeFries

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Denver, 2155 S. Race St., Denver, CO, 80208, USA

    Bruce F. Pennington

  3. Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Campus Box 447, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Soo Hyun Rhee

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  1. Soo Hyun Rhee
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Correspondence to Soo Hyun Rhee.

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Rhee, S.H., Willcutt, E.G., Hartman, C.A. et al. Test of Alternative Hypotheses Explaining the Comorbidity Between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Conduct Disorder. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36, 29–40 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9157-9

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