Subtypes of Aggression in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Medication Effects and Comparison with Typical Children

Abstract

We examined aggressive behavior in 6- to 12-year-old children, including 20 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on stimulant medication, 19 children with ADHD on placebo (n = 19), and 32 controls. Children completed a laboratory provocation task designed to measure hostile, instrumental, reactive, and proactive aggression. Children in the ADHD-placebo group exhibited increased proactive and reactive aggression following high levels of provocation compared to controls. On the last trials, instrumental aggression dissipated for controls and hostile aggression dissipated for children in the ADHD-placebo group. Both instrumental and hostile aggression dissipated for children in the ADHD-medication group.

This work was supported by a Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation Student Research Award awarded to Dr. King. During the preparation of this manuscript, Dr. Pelham was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH53554, MH069614. MH069434, MH078051, MH080791, MH064154), National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA11873), National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA12414), Department of Education–Institute of Educational Sciences (L03000665A, R324B060045, R324J060024), Department of Health and Human Services–Administration for Children and Families (90YR0017/01), and by Eli Lilly Corporation. Dr. Waschbusch was also supported by some of these grants. We thank the children and families who participated in this study.

Notes

Note. Values are means with standard deviations in parentheses unless otherwise indicated. Means or frequency counts within same row with different subscripts differ significantly on Tukey test at p < .05. ADHD = attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; DBD = Disruptive Behavior Disorders Rating Scale (Pelham et al., 1992); Hyp/Imp = hyperactive/impulsive; ODD = oppositional defiant disorder; CD = conduct disorder.

^a n = 32. ^b n = 19. ^c n = 20.

Note. Values in the tables are frequency counts with percentages in parentheses. ADHD = attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Prov = provocation.

∗χ²(2) marginally significant at p < .10. ∗∗χ²(2) significant at p < .05.

Note. Values in the table are frequency counts with percentages in parentheses. ADHD = Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Med = Medicated; Prov = Provocation.

∗χ²(2) marginally significant at p < .10. ∗∗χ²(2) significant at p < .05.