Associations between symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, and suicide in Korean female adolescents

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the associations between symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, and suicide in Korean female adolescents. It was hypothesized that the relationship between ADHD symptoms and suicidal ideation would be mediated by the level of depressive symptoms. Seven hundred and eighty-eight high school girls completed the Conners/Wells Adolescent Self-Report Scale: Short Form, Children's Depression Inventory, and Reynolds Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire. Path analyses were conducted using the statistical program, AMOS version 4.0, to determine the best fitting model. The conduct, cognitive, and hyperactivity problems of the ADHD symptoms in each domain were associated positively with the depressive symptoms, with the depressive symptoms being associated with suicidal ideation. This initially proposed model represented an acceptable fit to the data (root mean square error of approximation, RMSEA=0.077; normed fit index, NFI=0.998; non-NFI, NNFI=0.990; comparative fit index, CFI=0.998). The inclusion of a direct path from the conduct problems of ADHD symptoms to suicidal ideation significantly improved the model fit (RMSEA=0, NFI=1, NNFI=1, CFI=1). The results of our study suggest that depressive symptoms partially mediate the relationship between ADHD symptoms and suicidal ideation, and that the conduct problems of ADHD symptoms are associated with suicidal ideation both directly and indirectly via the depressive symptoms in Korean female adolescents.