A recently conducted study has revealed some startling problems that children suffering from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder might be at the risk of as they grow old. It has been reported in the research that these children are more likely to develop dependency on alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and other drugs during their teenage and adult years.

Talking about the finding, the lead author and an Assistant Professor of Psychology at UCLA, Steve S. Lee, said that children with ADHD are more prone to substance abuse regardless of their ethnicity or gender. He added that the findings were consistent through all groups of people.

For the research, a review of 27 studies that involved the participation of 4,100 children with ADHD and 6,300 children without ADHD was carried out. Some of the subjects were followed for more than a decade.

Following a proper evaluation, it was found that children with ADHD were more likely to develop substance abuse problems and even faced immense difficulties in quitting their habits.

Lee further added that the reason why the revelations of this study were noteworthy was because it spanned an analysis of 27 separate studies. The report has also appeared in the online edition of Clinical Psychology Review.