•Motor skills are often impaired among ADHD children, the degrees of severity vary from light to severe impairment.•Motor deficit in fine and/or gross motor skills can be found.•More than half of the ...ADHD children improve motor skills under medication.•Different explanations of the motor skill deficits can be given: comorbidity, inattention or lack of inhibition.
This article presents a review of the studies that have analysed the motor skills of ADHD children without medication and the influence of medication on their motor skills. The following two questions guided the study: What is the evidence of impairment of motor skills and aspects of motor control among children with ADHD aged between 6 and 16 years? What are the effects of ADHD medication on motor skills and motor control? The following keywords were introduced in the main databases: attention disorder and/or ADHD, motor skills and/or handwriting, children, medication. Of the 45 articles retrieved, 30 described motor skills of children with ADHD and 15 articles analysed the influence of ADHD medication on motor skills and motor control. More than half of the children with ADHD have difficulties with gross and fine motor skills. The children with ADHD inattentive subtype seem to present more impairment of fine motor skills, slow reaction time, and online motor control during complex tasks. The proportion of children with ADHD who improved their motor skills to the normal range by using medication varied from 28% to 67% between studies. The children who still show motor deficit while on medication might meet the diagnostic criteria of developmental coordination disorder (DCD). It is important to assess motor skills among children with ADHD because of the risk of reduced participation in activities of daily living that require motor coordination and attention.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with high heterogeneity that can affect individuals of any age. It is characterized by three main symptoms: ...inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. These neurobehavioral alterations and neurochemical and pharmacological findings are mainly attributed to unbalanced catecholaminergic signaling, especially involving dopaminergic pathways within prefrontal and striatal areas. Dopamine receptors and transporters are not solely implicated in this imbalance, as evidence indicates that the dopaminergic signaling is modulated by adenosine activity. To this extent, alterations in adenosinergic signaling are probably involved in ADHD. Here, we review the current knowledge about adenosine’s role in the modulation of chemical, behavioral and cognitive parameters of ADHD, especially regarding dopaminergic signaling. Current literature usually links adenosine receptors signaling to the dopaminergic imbalance found in ADHD, but there is evidence that equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs) could also be implicated as players in dopaminergic signaling alterations seen in ADHD, since their involvement in other neurobehavioral impairments.
•Adenosine can modulate several neuropsychiatric disorders and behavioral patterns.•The nucleoside transporter is a potential player regulating features of ADHD•Crosstalk between adenosine receptors and dopaminergic signaling is found in ADHD
Demographic data from nearly 50 years of treatment research for children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are synthesized. Comprehensive search identified ADHD ...treatment studies that were between-group designs, included a psychosocial, evidence-based treatment, and were conducted in the United States. One hundred and twenty-six studies that included 10,604 youth were examined. Reporting of demographics varied with 48% of studies (k = 61) reporting ethnicity, 73% (k = 92) reporting race, 80% (k = 101) reporting age (M age = 8.81, SD = 2.82), and 88% (k = 111) reporting gender. Most participants identified as non-Hispanic/Latine (15.99% Hispanic/Latine), White (62.54%), and boys (74.39%; 24.47% girls). Since the 1970s, zero youth in ADHD treatment studies identified as Middle Eastern/North African, 0.1% were American Indian/Alaskan Native or Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander, 1.77% were Asian, 15.10% were Black, and 3.14% were Multiracial. Based on publication year, the proportions of girls, racially minoritized youth, and Hispanic/Latine youth included in ADHD treatment research have increased over time. Girls, non-binary and non-cisgender youth, young children, adolescents, Hispanic/Latine youth, and youth from all racial groups other than White are underrepresented in ADHD treatment research. Research gaps are discussed, and recommendations for comprehensive demographic reporting in child and adolescent psychological research are provided.
•Girls, gender diverse youth, young children, and adolescents are underrepresented in the ADHD treatment literature.•Hispanic/Latine youth and youth from all racial groups other than White are underrepresented in the ADHD treatment literature.•Representation of minoritized and marginalized groups has been improving over time.•Findings underscore the need for researchers to design ADHD treatment studies with careful consideration of increasing representation and measurement of all groups.
•What is the primary question addressed by this study?To confirm that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with increased risk for developing dementia and Lewy body ...disease(LBD).•What is the main finding of this study?ADHD is independently associated with an increased risk of LBD, dementia, and non-amnestic-Mild Cognitive Impairment.•What is the meaning of the finding?As adults with ADHD appear to be at higher risk for cognitive decline and LBD, further studies should be conducted to elucidate this association and develop preventive interventions.
Past reports have suggested that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be a risk factor for Lewy body disease (LBD). To confirm this relationship, we conducted the present study.
A prospective observational cohort study with a follow-up to 15 years.
The subjects were recruited from cognitive neurology clinics, where they attended for a cognitive complaint or health check-up.
Two groups of subjects: ADHD adults and healthy subjects.
The risk of dementia and LBD was estimated with Kaplan-Meier analysis comparing for the presence or absence of ADHD with the log-rank test. Predictors of conversion were assessed through separate univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, adjusting for several variables.
The baseline sample consisted of 161 subjects with ADHD and 109 without ADHD. At the end of the follow-up, 31 subjects developed dementia, 27 cases in the ADHD group and 4 in comparison group. Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) was the most frequent type (N:20) of which 19 corresponded to the ADHD group. The incidence of non-amnestic-MCI in the ADHD group was higher representing 67.1 % of these subjects (N:108), and 17.4% (N:19) of healthy cases. The hazard ratios for dementia and LBD in the multivariate adjusted model were 3.33 (95% CI 1.0915 to 10.1699) and 54.54 (95% CI 7.4849 to 397.5028), respectively in the ADHD group.
This study showed that adult ADHD is independently associated with an increased risk of LBD, dementia, and na-MCI. Future studies should clarify this relationship to develop preventive measures for these patients.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess for the first time the criterion validity of the semi-structured Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in adults (DIVA 2.0), and its concurrent validity in ...comparison with the Conners’ Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID) and other ADHD severity scales, following the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) criteria. Method: A transversal study was performed on 40 out-patients with ADHD to check the criteria and concurrent validity of the DIVA 2.0 compared with the CAADID. Results: The DIVA 2.0 interview showed a diagnostic accuracy of 100% when compared with the diagnoses obtained with the CAADID interview. The concurrent validity demonstrated good correlations with three self-reported rating scales: the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS; r = .544, p < .0001), the ADHD-Rating Scale (r = .720, p < .0001), and Sheehan’s Dysfunction Inventory (r = .674, p < .0001). Conclusion: The DIVA 2.0 is a reliable tool for assessing and diagnosing Adult ADHD and is the only one that offers free online access for clinical and research purposes.
Background Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood that often persists into adulthood and old age. Yet ADHD is currently ...underdiagnosed and undertreated in many European countries, leading to chronicity of symptoms and impairment, due to lack of, or ineffective treatment, and higher costs of illness.
Methods The European Network Adult ADHD and the Section for Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan (NDAL) of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA), aim to increase awareness and knowledge of adult ADHD in and outside Europe. This Updated European Consensus Statement aims to support clinicians with research evidence and clinical experience from 63 experts of European and other countries in which ADHD in adults is recognized and treated.
Results Besides reviewing the latest research on prevalence, persistence, genetics and neurobiology of ADHD, three major questions are addressed: (1) What is the clinical picture of ADHD in adults? (2) How should ADHD be properly diagnosed in adults? (3) How should adult ADHDbe effectively treated?
Conclusions ADHD often presents as a lifelong impairing condition. The stigma surrounding ADHD, mainly due to lack of knowledge, increases the suffering of patients. Education on the lifespan perspective, diagnostic assessment, and treatment of ADHD must increase for students of general and mental health, and for psychiatry professionals. Instruments for screening and diagnosis of ADHD in adults are available, as are effective evidence-based treatments for ADHD and its negative outcomes. More research is needed on gender differences, and in older adults with ADHD.
Aims: Four Phase 3 studies evaluated efficacy and safety of viloxazine extended‐release in the treatment of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The primary efficacy objective—change from ...baseline in ADHD Rating Scale‐5 (ADHD‐RS‐5) Total score at end of study (EOS)—was not met in one of the studies (812P304). A band‐pass analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of placebo response on the results.
Methods: The distribution of placebo response at EOS of each trial was evaluated. The 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of the distribution of ADHD‐RS‐5 Total score were used as boundaries for the band‐pass analysis. An independent mixed model for repeated measures analysis was conducted for each trial using all eligible data (active and placebo) from the total and band‐pass filtered populations.
Results: The 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles at EOS were 3.5 and 53.5, respectively. Application of the band‐pass filter (filtering out all subjects active, n = 305 (32.1%) and placebo, n = 134 (33.5%) of clinical sites with placebo scores <3.5 or >53.5) revealed statistically significant improvement at the primary endpoint (600‐mg/d viloxazine ER vs. placebo) in Study 812P304 (mean confidence interval = 4.9537 0.5405–9.3669), previously masked by a high placebo response (mean confidence interval = 3.5756 −0.3332–7.4844). The outcome of the analysis indicated that the impact of the band‐pass adjustment is greater when placebo response is higher.
Conclusion: This analysis indicated that a higher placebo response in Study 812P304 confounded the assessment of treatment effect. Application of the band‐pass methodology confirmed the positive results of the 3 prior studies and the signal detection confounder in the fourth study.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in childhood. In Switzerland, the complex diagnosis and treatment are being carried out by ...adolescent-/child psychiatrists, and pediatricians. Guidelines recommend a multimodal therapy for patients with ADHD. However, it has been questioned whether health professionals follow this approach or favor drug therapy. This study aims to provide insights into the practice of pediatricians in Switzerland regarding diagnosis and treatment of ADHD and their perceptions of these processes.
An online survey (self-report) about current practices of diagnosis and management as well as challenges regarding ADHD was distributed to office-based pediatricians in Switzerland. One hundred fifty-one pediatricians participated. Results show that therapy options were almost always discussed with parents and older children. Exchange with parents (81%) and level of child's suffering (97%) were central when selecting therapy options.
Therapies about which pediatricians informed most often were: pharmacological therapy, psychotherapy, and multimodal therapy. Challenges voiced were the subjectivity of diagnostic criteria and dependence on third parties, low availability of psychotherapy, and a rather negative public attitude towards ADHD. Needs that were expressed were further education for all professionals, support for coordination with specialists and schools as well as improvement of information on ADHD.
Pediatricians do consider a multimodal approach when treating ADHD and take the families` and children's opinions into account. Improvements of the availability of child and youth psychotherapy, the strengthening of the interprofessional cooperation with therapists and schools, and efforts to increase public knowledge about ADHD are proposed.
ADHD is a major burden in adulthood, where co-morbid conditions such as depression, substance use disorder and obesity often dominate the clinical picture. ADHD has substantial shared heritability ...with other mental disorders, contributing to comorbidity. However, environmental risk factors exist but their interaction with genetic makeup, especially in relation to comorbid disorders, remains elusive. This review for the first time summarizes present knowledge on gene x environment (GxE) interactions regarding the dopamine system. Hitherto, mainly candidate (GxE) studies were performed, focusing on the genes DRD4, DAT1 and MAOA. Some evidence suggest that the variable number tandem repeats in DRD4 and MAOA may mediate GxE interactions in ADHD generally, and comorbid conditions specifically. Nevertheless, even for these genes, common variants are bound to suggest risk only in the context of gender and specific environments. For other polymorphisms, evidence is contradictory and less convincing. Particularly lacking are longitudinal studies testing the interaction of well-defined environmental factors with polygenic risk scores reflecting the dopamine system in its entirety.
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•Much of health burden by ADHD is owing to co-morbidities.•Major co-morbidities include depression, substance use disorder and obesity.•Co-morbidities have early origin and genetic and environmental components.•Genes shaping the dopamine system impact ADHD and co-morbidities over life course.•The whole dopamine gene cluster should be examined in gene × environment analyses.
In recent years, exposure to triclosan (TCS) has been linked to an increase in psychiatric disorders. Nonetheless, the precise mechanisms of this occurrence remain elusive. Therefore, this study ...developed a long-life TCS-exposed rat model, an SH-SY5Y cell model, and an atomoxetine hydrochloride (ATX) treatment model to explore and validate the neurobehavioral mechanisms of TCS from multiple perspectives. In the long-life TCS-exposed model, pregnant rats received either 0 mg/kg (control) or 50 mg/kg TCS by oral gavage throughout pregnancy, lactation, and weaning of their offspring (up to 8 weeks old). In the ATX treatment model, weanling rats received daily injections of either 0 mg/kg (control) or 3 mg/kg ATX via intraperitoneal injection until they reached 8 weeks old. Unlike the TCS model, ATX exposure only occurred after the pups were weaned. The results indicated that long-life TCS exposure led to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-like behaviors in male offspring rats accompanied by dopamine-related mRNA and protein expression imbalances in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Moreover, in vitro experiments also confirmed these findings. Mechanistically, TCS reduced dopamine (DA) synthesis, release, and transmission, and increased reuptake in PFC, thereby reducing synaptic gap DA levels and causing dopaminergic deficits. Additional experiments revealed that increased DA concentration in PFC by ATX effectively alleviated TCS-induced ADHD-like behavior in male offspring rats. These findings suggest that long-life TCS exposure causes ADHD-like behavior in male offspring rats through dopaminergic deficits. Furthermore, ATX treatment not only reduce symptoms in the rats, but also reveals valuable insights into the neurotoxic mechanisms induced by TCS.
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•Triclosan (TCS) can cause attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-like behavior in male offspring rats.•TCS can down-regulate dopamine (DA) synthesis, release, transmission and up-regulate DA reuptake.•Prefrontal cortex (PFC) dopaminergic deficiency is a major cause of TCS-induced ADHD-like behavior.•Increasing the DA concentration in PFC can effectively prevent TCS-induced ADHD-like behavior.
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