Association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and obesity and hypertension in early adulthood: a population-based study.
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2011-06
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, obesity and hypertension in young adults in a large population-based cohort. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The study population consisted of 15,197 respondents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of adolescents followed from 1995 to 2009 in the United States. Multinomial logistic and logistic models examined the odds of overweight, obesity and hypertension in adulthood in relation to retrospectively reported ADHD symptoms. Latent curve modeling was used to assess the association between symptoms and naturally occurring changes in body mass index (BMI) from adolescence to adulthood. RESULTS: Linear association was identified between the number of inattentive (IN) and hyperactive/impulsive (HI) symptoms and waist circumference, BMI, diastolic blood pressure and systolic blood pressure (all P-values for trend <0.05). Controlling for demographic variables, physical activity, alcohol use, smoking and depressive symptoms, those with three or more HI or IN symptoms had the highest odds of obesity (HI 3+, odds ratio (OR)=1.50, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.22-2.83; IN 3+, OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.02-1.44) compared with those with no HI or IN symptoms. HI symptoms at the 3+ level were significantly associated with a higher OR of hypertension (HI 3+, OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01-1.51; HI continuous, OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.00-1.09), but associations were nonsignificant when models were adjusted for BMI. Latent growth modeling results indicated that compared with those reporting no HI or IN symptoms, those reporting 3 or more symptoms had higher initial levels of BMI during adolescence. Only HI symptoms were associated with change in BMI. CONCLUSION: Self-reported ADHD symptoms were associated with adult BMI and change in BMI from adolescence to adulthood, providing further evidence of a link between ADHD symptoms and obesity.
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Fuemmeler, BF, T Østbye, C Yang, FJ McClernon and SH Kollins (2011). Association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and obesity and hypertension in early adulthood: a population-based study. Int J Obes (Lond), 35(6). pp. 852–862. 10.1038/ijo.2010.214 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5916.
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F Joseph McClernon
Joseph McClernon, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and founder/director of the Center for Addiction Science and Technology (CfAST). He is the Associate Director of the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). During his tenure with CTSI, his leadership has been critical to building a culture of evaluation and continuous improvement, in strengthening the institute’s partnership with North Carolina Central University and other regional partners, and in planning strategy and development for the institute.
Dr. McClernon earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 2001 from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke in 2002. He served as Director of the Addiction Division in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences from 2012-2020. His research is focused on increasing our understanding of tobacco use, developing new and more effective interventions to treat nicotine dependence, and informing the FDA’s regulation of tobacco products. He has served as a site-PI and Co-I for more than ten years in the Center for the Evaluation of Nicotine in Cigarettes (CENIC)— a national consortium that has provided the bulk of evidence to the FDA for informing national policies that will reduce nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels, thus saving millions of lives. Dr. McClernon is now leading efforts to transition CENIC’s focus to public health interventions that ensure the new policy will be implemented in ways that enable equitable outcomes for marginalized groups. Other regulatory science research has evaluated the effects of nicotine in cigarettes on a model of cigarette experimentation, the impact of flavors in cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and the influence of product characteristics and policy on multiple tobacco product use. He has led other groundbreaking research on the influence of drug-associated environments on drug use, relapse, and treatment; tobacco use disparities among individuals with comorbid psychiatric (e.g., ADHD, serious mental illness) and health (e.g., HIV; chronic pain) problems.
Dr. McClernon has actively mentored early career individuals from high school students through early career faculty. His former postdoctoral fellows are faculty or staff scientists at academic medical centers, government agencies, and research institutes. He has been continuously NIH-, FDA-, and foundation- funded since 2002. He has authored/co-authored more than 170 peer-reviewed publications, has two patents, has served as chair of NIH grant review panels, and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Jarvik-Russell New Investigator Award. In 2024 he was recognized for excellence in mentoring when he was awarded the Career Mentoring Award in Clinical Research by the Duke University School of Medicine.

Scott Haden Kollins
Scott H. Kollins, PhD received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Duke and his Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology from Auburn University. After completing his clinical internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he served as Chief Intern, he joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at Western Michigan University for three years, before joining the Duke faculty in 2000. Dr. Kollins has published more than 125 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. Over the past 10 years, his research has been supported by 6 different federal agencies, including NICHD, NIDA, NIMH, NIEHS, NINDS, and EPA, and he currently holds a mid-career K24 award from NIDA. He has also served as PI on more than 40 industry-funded clinical trials and is a consultant to a number of pharmaceutical companies in the area of ADHD clinical psychopharmacology. He has served as a standing member of the Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities study section and also served as an ad-hoc reviewer for 10 additional NIH study sections and 7 international granting agencies. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Attention Disorders and has reviewed for more than 50 different peer-reviewed journals. He is an elected member of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Kollins is a licensed clinical psychologist and maintains a practice through the ADHD Program’s outpatient clinic. His research interests are in the areas of psychopharmacology and the intersection of ADHD and substance abuse, particularly cigarette smoking.
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