Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40801243›Full record

SynthesisJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2026

The role of comorbid childhood mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions in the persistence of ADHD symptoms: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Yuan You, Tom McAdams, Yasmin I Ahmadzadeh, Tabea Schoeler, Filip Marzecki, Helena M S Zavos

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Yuan YouSocial, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0009-0009-0616-5715
Tom McAdamsSocial, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6825-3499
Yasmin I AhmadzadehSocial, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1333-1661
Tabea SchoelerDepartment of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Filip MarzeckiSocial, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-3213-2721
Helena M S ZavosDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, UK.

Funding

China Scholarship CouncilUKRI Economic and Social Research CouncilWellcome TrustWellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship 220382/Z/20/ZWellcome Trust Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship 218641/Z/19/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChildren diagnosed with ADHD and other comorbid mental health conditions often exhibit more severe functional impairments than those without comorbid conditions, including a tendency for their ADHD symptoms to persist into later developmental stages. We conducted a systematic review and quantitative analysis to investigate the extent to which specific childhood comorbidities (internalizing, externalizing and neurodevelopmental conditions) predict the persistence of childhood ADHD into later developmental stages.

methodsWe extracted data from 26 studies meeting the criteria for inclusion and applied multilevel random effects models to obtain pooled estimates of Cohen's d for selected predictors on ADHD persistence.

resultsChildhood comorbid internalizing and externalizing conditions (d = 0.19 and d = 0.31, respectively), but not neurodevelopmental disorders, were significantly associated with ADHD persistence. After adjusting for covariates (sex, age and other comorbidities), this association diminished for externalizing conditions (d

conclusionsChildhood comorbid externalizing and, to a lesser extent, internalizing conditions were associated with the persistence of ADHD, but this association may be partially due to confounders. Childhood comorbidity of neurodevelopmental disorders does not appear to increase the likelihood of ADHD persistence.

Indexed as

Attention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityMental DisordersNeurodevelopmental DisordersChildComorbidityHumansADHD persistenceexternalizing conditionsinternalizing conditionsneurodevelopmental conditions

Identifiers

PMID40801243
PMCPMC12812795

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.