Medication for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Risk for Depression: A Nationwide Longitudinal Cohort StudyShow others and affiliations
2016 (English)In: Biological Psychiatry, ISSN 0006-3223, E-ISSN 1873-2402, Vol. 80, no 12, p. 916-922Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with high rates of psychiatric comorbidity, including depression. However, it is unclear whether ADHD medication increases or decreases the risk for depression.
Methods: We studied all individuals with a diagnosis of ADHD born between 1960 and 1998 in Sweden (N = 38,752). We obtained data for prescription of ADHD medication, diagnosis of depression and other psychiatric disorders, and sociodemographic factors from population-based registers. The association between ADHD medication and depression was estimated with Cox proportional hazards regression.
Results: After adjustment for sociodemographic and clinical confounders, ADHD medication was associated with a reduced long-term risk (i.e., 3 years later) for depression (hazard ratio = 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.51-0.67). The risk was lower for longer duration of ADHD medication. Also, ADHD medication was associated with reduced rates of concurrent depression; within-individual analysis suggested that occurrence of depression was 20% less common during periods when patients received ADHD medication compared with periods when they did not (hazard ratio = 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.70-0.92).
Conclusions Our study suggests that ADHD medication does not increase the risk of later depression; rather, medication was associated with a reduced risk for subsequent and concurrent depression.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
New York: Elsevier, 2016. Vol. 80, no 12, p. 916-922
Keywords [en]
ADHD medication, Cohort study, Depression, Long-term effect, Short-term effect, Stimulants
National Category
Psychiatry Neurology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-54106DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.02.018ISI: 000392754000007PubMedID: 27086545Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84963520617OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-54106DiVA, id: diva2:1058328
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2013-2280Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2014-2780
Note
Funding Agencies:
Swedish Initiative for Research on Microdata in the Social And Medical Sciences 340-2013-5867
National Institute of Mental Health 1R01MH102221
Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute TL1 TR001107
2016-12-202016-12-202018-07-23Bibliographically approved