Adolescent Girls with ADHD may be more Likely to Develop Eating Disorders

A study of girls diagnosed with ADHD found that they were more likely to develop eating pathology in adolescence than their peers who were not diagnosed with the disorder.

A study published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology focused on the longitudinal effects of ADHD on eating pathology in adolescent girls. The researchers followed 150 girls diagnosed with ADHD between the ages of six and 12 for five years.

When compared to 88 girls who had never been diagnosed with ADHD, the girls with the diagnosis were more likely to display behaviors consistent with Bulimia Nervosa. The girls diagnosed with ADHD, Combined Type (ADHD-C) were significantly more likely to engage in binging and purging behavior, by both parent- and self-report, and were more likely to report body image dissatisfaction. Girls with ADHD, Inattentive Type (ADHD-I) consistently fell between girls with ADHD-C and girls with no diagnosis on eating pathology measures.

Girls diagnosed with ADHD, regardless of type, had higher Body Mass Indexes (BMI) than their non-ADHD peers, but girls with ADHD-C were more likely to respond to their BMI with dissatisfaction. Punitive parenting style also predicted later eating pathology in girls with ADHD-C, while peer rejection increased the desire to lose weight for all of the girls studied, regardless of whether or not they had an ADHD diagnosis.

Childhood impulsivity, rather than inattention or hyperactivity, was the best predictor of disordered eating in adolescent girls. Impulsivity, which is strongly associated with ADHD-C, may decrease self-regulation abilities, and may in turn lead to the specific eating behaviors associated with Bulimia Nervosa. However, both ADHD-C and later disordered eating may also stem from the some other underlying cause, such as a dysregulated temperament.

While researchers have yet to ascertain the cause of the link between ADHD and eating pathology in adolescent girls, this research supports the need to add eating disorders to conceptions of risk and impairment in the ADHD framework.