OBJECTIVE: To analyze factors associated with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder in children. METHODS: This is a longitudinal study about behavior problems in schoolchildren that was carried out in the city of São Gonçalo (Southeastern Brazil) in 2005. A total of 479 students from public schools was analyzed, selected through three-stage cluster sampling. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to measure the outcome. A questionnaire was administered to parents/guardians concerning the exposure factors, which were: child's and family's profile, family relationship variables, physical and psychological violence. The log-binomial regression model with a hierarchical approach was employed in the analysis. RESULTS: Higher intelligence quotient was inversely associated with the frequency of the disorder (PR=0.980 [95%CI 0.963;0.998]). The prevalence of the disorder in the children was higher when there was family dysfunction than among families with a better way of relating (PR=2.538 [95%CI 1.572; 4.099]). Children who suffered verbal abuse from the mother had a prevalence 3.7 times higher than the ones not exposed to this situation in the last year (PR=4.7 [95%CI 1.254;17.636]). CONCLUSIONS: Negative family relationships are associated with symptoms of Attention-Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. Its association with the intelligence quotient reiterates the importance of the genetic and environmental basis at the origin of the disorder.
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, epidemiology; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Family Relations; Domestic Violence
