Purpose Disordered eating is more prevalent among adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms show strong associations with disordered eating, but few investigations of these associations have been longitudinal. Thus, we examined the effect of childhood to adolescent inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom trajectories on late adolescent disordered eating. Methods We used growth mixture modeling to identify distinct inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom trajectories (called “classes”) across three time points (ages 8–9, 13–14, and 16–17 years) in the Swedish Twin study of CHild and Adolescent Development. The resulting classes were used to predict Eating Disorder Inventory-2 Bulimia, Drive for Thinness, and Body Dissatisfaction subscales at age 16–17 years, with adjustment for sex and body mass index at age 16–17 years. Results The combined inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom trajectory classes included: a “low symptom” class characterized by low inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity throughout childhood/adolescence; a “predominantly inattention” class characterized by elevated inattention, but not hyperactivity/impulsivity, throughout childhood/adolescence; a “predominantly hyp/imp” class characterized by elevated hyperactivity/impulsivity, but not inattention, throughout childhood/adolescence; and a “both inattention and hyp/imp” class characterized by elevated inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity throughout childhood/adolescence. After adjusting for sex and body mass index or sex and anxiety/depression symptoms, the “both inattention and hyp/imp” (vs. “low symptom”) class predicted significantly higher Eating Disorder Inventory-2 subscale scores during late adolescence. Conclusions Increased vigilance for disordered eating among children who have both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms throughout childhood and adolescence could aid in early identification of eating disorders
