The brains of typically developing children (left) exhibit greater spatial stability than those of children with ADHD (right).Credit: Z. Ghao et al. Nature Commun. 16, 2346 (2025)
Quantifying shorter life expectancies
Adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have poorer education and employment outcomes than the rest of the population, and worse physical and mental health. There is also evidence suggesting that they are more likely to die prematurely as the result of adverse consequences of symptoms, such as alcohol and substance use, suicidal behaviours and overall worse health.
Nature Outlook: ADHD
A team led by Josh Stott at University College London used primary-care data to confirm that people with ADHD do indeed, on average, lead shorter lives than people without ADHD. The researchers compared records from 2000 to 2019 for about 30,000 adults (aged 18 or older) with ADHD diagnoses and 300,000 adults without one. They calculated an average reduction in life expectancy of 6.8 years for men diagnosed with ADHD and 8.6 years for women.
This is the first study to use mortality data to calculate the number of years of life lost as the result of ADHD. The researchers say that this reduced longevity is mainly due to modifiable risk factors, such as alcohol use and smoking, as well as insufficient support and treatment, both in terms of ADHD directly and any co-occurring physical and mental health conditions.
The researchers caution that the results might not generalize to the whole population with ADHD, because they looked only at people with diagnoses. Other research, they say, suggests that most adults with ADHD are undiagnosed.
Br. J. Psychiatry 226, 261–268 (2025)
How symptoms fluctuate over time
ADHD is usually viewed as a chronic condition, but some studies have estimated that around half of children with an ADHD diagnosis recover by the time they are adults. Evidence is growing, however, that ADHD typically doesn’t simply remit or persist, but rather fluctuates over time.
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