Conduct and Oppositional Disorder in Clinically Referred Children With Attention Deficit Disorder: A Controlled Family Study

In a controlled family study of clinically-referred children with attention deficit disorder (ADD), data were collected on first-degree relatives of 22 children with ADD and 20 normal children. Fourteen (64%) probands had associated diagnoses of conduct disorder (CD) or oppositional disorder (OPD). The data indicate two familial patterns. For children with associated CD/OPD, the rates of antisocial disorders (CD, OPD, antisocial personality disorder) in relatives were significantly higher than the rates of these disorders in relatives of probands without associated CD/OPD (46% versus 13%, p < 0.05) and in relatives of normal control subjects (46% versus 7%, p < 0.001). These findings suggest that ADD children with an associated CD/OPD may represent a meaningful subgroup with specific familial characteristics.