5 Way ADHD to Pathological Alcohol Consumption.

It is known the high comorbidity between ADHD and substance use disorders. However as far as we know there is no published any prior work that summarizes the information regarding the explanations and ways in which a person with ADHD has increased risk of developing an alcohol use disorder. In this paper we propose a theoretical conceptualization of 5 ways by which an adolescent with ADHD may develop an alcohol use disorder, data are also provided to support the different pathways. The first two are direct, i.e. ADHD has core symptoms such are impulsivity and hyperactivity (sensation seeking). The other three are indirect, i.e. psychopathology associated to ADHD such as anxiety, depression and conduct disorder that can subsequently provide the appearance of TUS alcohol.

This review provides a broad and comprehensive picture trying to review why a teenager with ADHD has a higher risk of alcohol abuse or dependence. It is important to note that the various explanations offered in our work are referred to as complementary, and can be very useful for the clinician to perform explanatory analysis of comorbid ADHD cases and youth alcohol use disorders.