Even though the number of studies aiming to improve comprehension of ADHD pathology has increased in recent years, there still is an urgent need for more effective studies, particularly in ...understanding adult ADHD, both at preclinical and clinical levels, due to the increasing evidence that adult ADHD is highly distinct and a different entity from childhood ADHD. This review paper outlines the symptoms, diagnostics, and neurobiological mechanisms of ADHD, with emphasis on how adult ADHD could be different from childhood-onset. Data show a difference in the environmental, genetic, epigenetic, and brain structural changes, when combined, could greatly impact the behavioral presentations and the severity of ADHD in adults. Furthermore, a crucial aspect in the quest to fully understand this disorder could be through longitudinal analysis. In this way, we will determine if and how the pathology and pharmacology of ADHD change with age. This goal could revolutionize our understanding of the disorder and address the weaknesses in the current clinical classification systems, improving the characterization and validity of ADHD diagnosis, specifically those in adults.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are two neurological disorders with high rates of incidence and mortality respectively, both capable of inflicting ...long‐term physiological damage. Although prior research has indicated that brain tumor survivors exhibit increases in susceptibility to ADHD, the underlying genetic components still remain relatively unknown. The primary purpose of this investigation was to identify genetic associations between ADHD and GBM by single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of target genes. NCBI’s Gene Expression Omnibus was accessed, and genes of interest were selected by differential gene expression analysis in GBM patients. Sequence data of ADHD and GBM patients were obtained from the Sequence Read Archive (SRA), followed by the construction of analysis pipelines to map the sequences against human chromosome 12, followed by indexing and variant calling. This study highlights 18 variants (including 7 reported SNPs) that contribute to the genetic overlap of ADHD and GBM and may provide a useful tool for precision medicine.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common chronic neurobehavioral disorder of childhood. Research suggests increased parent-child conflict exists in families with an ADHD ...child. The evidence indicates links between child behavior problems and parenting practices. Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) is an evidence-based intervention recommended for the treatment of ADHD. BPT is recommended as first-line treatment in ADHD children under age six and as a combination treatment approach for children older than the age six. BPT programs have demonstrated significant improvement in frequency of the problem behaviors of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity associated with ADHD. Pre- and Post-BPT Parenting Scales and Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scales for Parents and Teachers were used to evaluate the efficacy of the BPT program. Percent changes for each participant pre- and post-BPT were calculated. The Parenting Scale overall score and overreactivity factor score showed significant improvement post-BPT (p = .05). Participation in a BPT program can affect parenting practices and improve outcomes for ADHD children. BPT programs are effective in reducing negative parenting practices and improving outcomes for this population.
Attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are continuously distributed in the general population, where both genetic and environmental factors play roles. Stressful life events (SLEs) ...have been associated with ADHD diagnosis, but the relationship between ADHD genetic liability, SLEs, and ADHD symptoms in healthy individuals is less clear. Using a sample of 1,531 healthy adults (average age 26.9 years; 55.8% female), we investigated relationships between ADHD polygenic risk scores (ADHD‐PRSs), SLEs, and ADHD symptoms in a general population sample. Confirming earlier findings in an overlapping sample, all SLE‐measures assessed (lifetime SLEs, recent SLEs, and childhood trauma (CT)) were significantly correlated with total ADHD, inattention (IA), and hyperactivity‐impulsivity (HI) scores (r2 range = .08–.15; all p < .005). ADHD‐PRSs was associated with HI (R2best‐fit = .37%), lifetime SLEs (R2best‐fit = .56%), and CT (R2best‐fit = .40%). Mediation analyses showed that lifetime SLEs partially mediated the association between ADHD‐PRSs and HI (indirect effect: β = 68.6, bias corrected accelerated 95% confident interval (BCa95%CI) 11.9, 131.0, p = .016, proportion mediated (PM) =19.5%), with strongest effects contributed by CT (β = 34.4, BCa95%CI 0.4, 76.5, p = .040, PM = 9.8%). On the other hand, HI partially mediated the association between the ADHD‐PRSs and lifetime SLEs (β = 42.9, BCa95%CI 7.3, 83.9, p = .014, PM = 18.8%). Our study observed a complex relationship of genetic and environmental risk factors contributing to ADHD symptoms in the healthy adult population.
The German version of the Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS) has proven to show very high model fit in confirmative factor analyses with the established factors inattention/memory problems, ...hyperactivity/restlessness, impulsivity/emotional lability, and problems with self-concept in both large healthy control and ADHD patient samples. This study now presents data on the psychometric properties of the German CAARS-self-report (CAARS-S) and observer-report (CAARS-O) questionnaires.
CAARS-S/O and questions on sociodemographic variables were filled out by 466 patients with ADHD, 847 healthy control subjects that already participated in two prior studies, and a total of 896 observer data sets were available. Cronbach's-alpha was calculated to obtain internal reliability coefficients. Pearson correlations were performed to assess test-retest reliability, and concurrent, criterion, and discriminant validity. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC-analyses) were used to establish sensitivity and specificity for all subscales.
Coefficient alphas ranged from .74 to .95, and test-retest reliability from .85 to .92 for the CAARS-S, and from .65 to .85 for the CAARS-O. All CAARS subscales, except problems with self-concept correlated significantly with the Barrett Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), but not with the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS). Criterion validity was established with ADHD subtype and diagnosis based on DSM-IV criteria. Sensitivity and specificity were high for all four subscales.
The reported results confirm our previous study and show that the German CAARS-S/O do indeed represent a reliable and cross-culturally valid measure of current ADHD symptoms in adults.
The Adult ADHD Quality Measures Initiative Faraone, Stephen V.; Silverstein, Michael J.; Antshel, Kevin ...
Journal of attention disorders,
08/2019, Volume:
23, Issue:
10
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Objective: Quality measures (QMs; also known as Quality Indicators) quantify health care processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational structure and/or systems that are relevant to the ...provision of high-quality health care. We describe the first phase of a project that has as its ultimate goal the creation and validation of QMs for tracking the screening, diagnosis, treatment, and clinical follow-up of adults with ADHD. This will fill an important gap in the field of Adult ADHD because QMs for adult ADHD do not exist. Method: We followed the guidelines of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for the development of QMs. These guidelines call for two phases: (1) Identify Candidate QMs and (2) Assess Candidate QMs. This article describes the results of our Phase 1 activities. To generate QMs for adult ADHD, we took the following steps: (a) searched the clinical/research literature for adult ADHD QMs; (b) convened a multidisciplinary panel comprising clinical and research experts and had them brainstorm potential QMs in the areas of screening, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, care coordination, and patient experience; (c) compared these QMs with existing guidelines for adult ADHD to see if any potential QMs had been missed, this led to a draft list of 46 QMs; (d) had 28 ADHD experts rate the importance, reliability, validity, feasibility, and usability of the QMs. Results: The literature review found several QMs for ADHD in youth but none for ADHD in adults. The brainstorming session generated 52 QMs. The survey showed that all of these QMs were highly rated but that there was sufficient variability in ratings to prioritize some QMs over others. Conclusion: Based on these results, we prioritized QMs to carry forward into the next phase of the project. This work fills an important gap for the clinical care of adult patients with ADHD and helps to set a precedent for mental health, which has lagged behind other areas of medicine in developing QMs.
ADHD in higher education and academia Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Hanna; Hultman, Lill; Österborg-Wiklund, Sofia ...
Canadian journal of disability studies,
2023, Volume:
12, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
In this paper we explore our own experiences of barriers to learning and academic knowledge production in academia and higher education. Our analyses are based on our collective autoethnographical ...accounts from our own experiences of ADHD and higher education, with a particular focus on post graduate education and our experiences of ADHD peer support in academic knowledge production. In our analysis, we have distinguished between three different dimensions of academia for ADHD graduate students and faculty: as a place of structural violence and vulnerability; as enabling or disabling, and as a place for neurodivergent community formation. There are few ADHD-centered traditions of learning within education. By ADHD-centered we refer to perspectives within education and support informed by an ADHD insider-perspective. We therefore stress the possibilities of ADHD learning informed by the emerging field of critical ADHD studies.
PDF
