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Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with externalizing disorders and future criminal behavior, and ADHD stimulant treatment reduces conduct problems in children. However, no specific data link treatment with changes in adult criminality. Now, researchers have examined time-varying associations between criminal convictions and treatment periods (defined as intervals with stimulant or nonstimulant prescriptions <6 months apart).
The investigators analyzed Swedish prescription and criminal registry data in 2006–2009 on 16,087 men and 9569 women with an ADHD diagnosis and on general-population controls matched by age, sex, and geographic region. Of men with ADHD, 53.6% had taken ADHD drugs, and 36.6% had been convicted …