Hyperactive Boys and Their Brothers

Twenty men, who had conformed to diagnostic criteria for the hyperactive child syndrome 20 to 25 years ago, and their brothers were interviewed. A large majority of men who were hyperactive had completed high school, and each was steadily employed and self-supporting. Half of the men who were hyperactive continued to show a number of symptoms of hyperactivity. Nearly half had problems of a psychiatric nature and despite normal intelligence quota scores and levels of education, these men had not achieved a socioeconomic status equal to that of their brothers or their fathers. Our findings suggest that emotional problems in everyday living may result from the persistance of symptoms of hyperactivity and that most social and psychiatric consequences of the disorder relate to its presence in childhood as well as to its persistance in adulthood.