Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): progress and controversy in diagnosis and treatment

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-257
Author(s):  
D. M. Foreman ◽  
S. Timimi
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Patient Outcomes ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Adhd Diagnosis ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Drug Treatments ◽  
Definition Of

Knowledge about attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is rapidly accumulating. Recent advances in diagnosis, genetics, neuroimaging, drug and non-drug treatments are considered, and the results are related to the critical attack on the ADHD diagnosis, which argues it a medicalising social construct, unhelpfully sustaining power relationships. The advances reviewed suggest that, while this attack can be conclusively dismissed as wrong and misleading, the phenomenological definition of ADHD is no longer sufficient for construct validity, though continues to be valuable as a guide for clinicians. The humanising and individualising concerns underlying the attack on the diagnosis could usefully be redirected to improving effective measurement of patient outcomes.

scholarly journals Self-compassion and Perceived Criticism in Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Mindfulness ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2506-2518
Author(s):  
Danielle M. Beaton ◽  
Fuschia Sirois ◽  
Elizabeth Milne
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Natural Group ◽  
Adhd Diagnosis ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Perceived Criticism ◽  
Group Comparisons

Abstract Objectives Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with increased criticism from others. To date, there is little research considering the consequences of how others respond to people with ADHD. Self-compassion is a positive way of relating to oneself during difficulty. Here, we investigate whether levels of self-compassion differ between people with and without ADHD, and whether perceived criticism mediates any differences in self-compassion between people with and without ADHD. Methods A cross-sectional design was used to conduct natural group comparisons. A sample of 1203 adults (46% with a self-reported ADHD diagnosis) recruited via social media, online forums and posters completed online self-report measures of diagnostic status, ADHD traits, self-compassion and perceived criticism. Between-group comparisons of self-compassion and perceived criticism were conducted on participants grouped by diagnosis, then grouped by ADHD trait severity. Perceived criticism was tested as a mediator variable between ADHD diagnosis and self-compassion. Results Adults with an ADHD diagnosis showed significantly lower self-compassion and higher perceived criticism than the participants without ADHD. Participants high in ADHD traits but without a diagnosis had significantly similar levels of self-compassion to the diagnosed group. Mediation analysis found that higher perceived criticism partially explained the relationship between ADHD diagnosis and self-compassion, even after accounting for co-occurring mood disorder diagnosis. Conclusions Adults with ADHD are less self-compassionate than adults without ADHD. This is partially explained by the higher level of criticism they perceive from others.

Holly's Story: Illustration of an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Case

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1049-1051
Author(s):  
A. Aureli ◽  
D. Piancatelli ◽  
T. Del Beato ◽  
P. Sebastiani ◽  
V. Melillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Hla Class I ◽  
Statistical Manual ◽  
Adhd Diagnosis ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Diagnostic And Statistical Manual ◽  
Allele Drb1

During the last 10 years a significant increase of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has been reported. ADHD is believed to have a multifactorial etiology including multiple genetic and prenatal environmental factors. For this reason, there has been a recent revival regarding the role of autoimmunity in this pathology. An ADHD combined-type patient born from a drug-addicted mother was studied. Neuropsychological tests according to the criteria of the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM4) permitted us to make the ADHD-diagnosis. The HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 alleles of the child were determined by sequence-based typing (SBT) after DNA extraction. Although no autistic behavioral features were observed in the patient, a double genetic association between ADHD and autism was reported. In fact, HLA class I alleles (A*02 and B*44) associated to autism and the HLA class II allele (DRB1*04) associated both to autism and ADHD were identified.

scholarly journals Estimating the Biological Validity of the DSM for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Using Multivariate Analysis for Small Samples

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri M. Abramov ◽  
Evelyne Vigneau ◽  
Saint-Clair Gomes-Junior ◽  
Carlos Alberto Mourão-Júnior ◽  
Monique Castro-Pontes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
Adhd Diagnosis ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Related Potentials

AbstractBackground.Psychiatric nosology lacks objective biological foundation, as well as typical biomarkers for diagnoses, which raises questions about its validity. The problem is particularly evident concerning Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The objective of this study is to estimate whether the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM) is biologically valid for ADHD diagnosis using a multivariate analysis for small samples from a large dataset concerning neurophysiological, behavioral, and psychological variables.Methods:Twenty typically developing boys and 19 boys diagnosed with ADHD, aged 10-13 years, were examined using the Attentional Network Test (ANT) with records of event-related potentials (ERPs). From 815 variables, a reduced number of latent variables (LVs) were extracted with a clustering method, for further reclassification of subjects using the k-means method. This approach allowed multivariate analysis to be applied to a significantly larger number of variables than the number of cases (E. Wigneau et al., 2003, 2015)Results:From datasets including ERPs from the mid-frontal, mid-parietal, right frontal, and central channels, only seven subjects were miss-reclassified by the LVs. An estimated specificity of 75.00% and sensitivity of 89.47% for DSM were found in the reclassification. The kappa index between DSM and behavioral/psychological/neurophysiological data was 0.75, which is regarded as a “substantial level of agreement”.Discussion:Results showed that CLV is a useful method for diagnostic classification using a large dataset of small samples, suggesting the biological validity of DSM for ADHD diagnosis, in accordance to alterations in fronto-striatal networks previously related to ADHD.

Methylphenidate and mortality in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: population-based cohort study

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Vincent Chin-Hung Chen ◽  
Hsiang-Lin Chan ◽  
Shu-I Wu ◽  
Mong-Liang Lu ◽  
Michael E. Dewey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
National Health Insurance ◽  
National Health ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Research Database ◽  
Adhd Diagnosis ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder

Background Little is known about methylphenidate (MPH) use and mortality outcomes. Aims To investigate the association between MPH use and mortality among children with an attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis. Method This population-based cohort study analysed data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). A total of 68 096 children and adolescents aged 4–17 years with an ADHD diagnosis and prescribed MPH between 2000 and 2010 were compared with 68 096 without an MPH prescription, matched on age, gender and year of first ADHD diagnosis. All participants were followed to death, migration, withdrawal from the National Health Insurance programme or 31 December 2013. MPH prescriptions were measured on a yearly basis during the study period, and the association between MPH use and mortality was analysed using a repeated-measures time-dependent Cox regression model. The outcome measures included all-cause, unnatural-cause (including suicide, accident and homicide) and natural-cause mortality, obtained from linkage to the National Mortality Register in Taiwan. Results The MPH group had lower unadjusted all-cause, natural-, unnatural- and accident-cause mortality than the comparison group. After controlling for potential confounders, MPH use was associated with a significantly lower all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio AHR = 0.81, 95% CI 0.67–0.98, P = 0.027), delayed use of MPH was associated with higher mortality (AHR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.01–1.09) and longer MPH use was associated with lower mortality (AHR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.70–0.98). Conclusions MPH use is associated with a reduced overall mortality in children with ADHD in this cohort study, but unmeasured confounding cannot be excluded absolutely.

Glossary (Not) for Non-ADHD Partners

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 99-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Lynne Ivey
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Adhd Diagnosis ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder

This piece explores my experience navigating the new communicative obstacles emerging after the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis of my partner. Struggling to find research that aided my understanding, I created a glossary of terms meant to clarify what words were currently working/not working in my relationship. Each term entry is coupled with autoethnographic accounts with/about my partner. This essay means to extend the work of Eve Tuck and Christine Ree, demonstrating how creating glossaries can be used as a critical qualitative method to explore negotiations of discourses that occur within marginalized identities.

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