As parents of ADHD kids know all too well, children with ADHD often have difficulty handling stress, or stressful situations. Now, a team of researchers in Australia may have found a biological reason why this is so. Read more of the article...

Does Ritalin Use Alter a Child’s Brain?

This was a common headline in the media regarding another of the really interesting studies published this summer. The actual name of the study was:

“Methylphenidate Administration to Juvenile Rats Alters Brain Areas Involved in Cognition, Motivated Behaviors, Appetite, and Stress.”

The study attempted to answer questions regarding the consequences of using Ritalin (Methylphenidate) long-term in children. The researcher’s had concerns that no one really knows what long-term use of Ritalin does to a child’s brain, so they studied the impact of Ritalin use on 16 areas of the brains of young male rats, hoping to find clues. Read more of the article...

ABSTRACT

Context Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder of childhood. There is considerable evidence that brain dopamine is involved in ADHD, but it is unclear whether dopamine activity is enhanced or depressed.

Objective To test the hypotheses that striatal dopamine activity is depressed in ADHD and that this contributes to symptoms of inattention. Read more of the article...

Press Release: June 4, 2007

NIMH recently approved funding to test the effectiveness of an early intervention in children at high risk for developing bipolar disorder. Though early in the research process, the long-term goal of this study is to reduce or delay the development of bipolar disorder in at-risk youth, heading off the effects of the disorder before it disrupts healthy development and functioning. Read more of the article...

But Linked Problems Persist Into Adolescence - Major Follow-up Study

Most children treated in a variety of ways for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) showed sustained improvement after three years in a major follow-up study funded by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Yet increased risk for behavioral problems, including delinquency and substance use, remained higher than normal.

The study followed-up children who had participated in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (MTA). Read more of the article...

Effects of reward and response cost on response inhibition in AD/HD, disruptive, anxious, and normal children.

Author/s: Jaap Oosterlaan
Issue: June, 1998

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) has been conceptualized as a disorder which arises from a deficit in the capability for response inhibition (e.g., Barkley, 1994, 1997; Douglas, 1989; Newman & Wallace, 1993; Pennington & Ozonoff, 1996; Quay, 1988a, 1988b, 1997; Wender, 1972). That is, a failure to suppress inappropriate responding has been postulated to underlie the inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive behavior that characterizes AD/HD. Read more of the article...

Diagnostic Issues and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder – ADD ADHD

Clinical utility of the test of variables of attention (TOVA) in the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Journal of Clinical Psychology
Volume 54, Issue 4, 1998. Pages: 461-476
Published Online: 6 Dec 1998

Ability of the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) to distinguish between referred children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other (OTHER) clinical diagnoses were studied.

The ADHD group differed from the OTHER group on TOVA variables and most measures from the Revised Conners Teacher Rating Scale (RCTRS) and ADD-H Comprehensive Teacher's Rating Scale (ACTeRS). Read more of the article...

Behavioral and neuropsychological correlates of hyperactivity and inattention in Brazilian school children

Brito GN, Pereira CC, Santos-Morales TR
Dev Med Child Neurol 1999 Nov;41(11):732-9

Departamento de Pediatria, Instituto Fernandes Figueira, Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil. ccsgnob@vm.uff.br

Attempts at subtyping attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) along the hyperactivity dimension are considered controversial.

This study addresses this issue by dividing a non-clinical sample of Brazilian children (mean age, 9.4 years; SD, 2.9), who were attending a mainstream school in the Greater Rio de Janeiro area, into four behavioral domain groups ( Read more of the article...

• normal [NO, N=324],
• hyperactive/impulsive [HI, N=17],

National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference Statement: Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Issue: Feb, 2000

ABSTRACT

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder of childhood that represents a costly major public health problem.

Despite progress, ADHD and its treatment have remained controversial, especially the use of psychostimulants for both short- and long-term treatment.

Although an independent diagnostic test for ADHD does not exist, there is evidence supporting the validity of the disorder. Read more of the article...

ADHD: The Multimodal Treatment Study—Questions and Answers

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the most common of the psychiatric disorders that appear in childhood, are often the subject of great concern on the part of parents and teachers. Children with ADHD are unable to stay focused on a task, cannot sit still, act without thinking, and rarely finish anything. If untreated, the disorder can have long-term effects on a child's ability to make friends or do well at school or in other activities. Over time, children with ADHD may develop depression, lack of self-esteem, and other emotional problems. Read more of the article...

Association of the Dopamine Transporter Gene (DAT1) With Poor Methylphenidate Response

Author/s: Bertrand G. Winsberg
Issue: Dec, 1999

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study attempted to relate the alleles of the [D.sub.2] (DRD2), [D.sub.4] (DRD4), and dopamine transporter (DAT1) genes to the behavioral outcome of methylphenidate therapy.

Method: African-American children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder were treated with methylphenidate in doses not in excess of 60 mg/day.

The dosage was increased until behavioral change was achieved, using a decrement in scores of less than or equal to 1 on a commonly used rating scale or until the maximum tolerated dose was achieved. Read more of the article...

Treatment Services for Children With ADHD: A National Perspective

Author/s: Kimberly Hoagwood
Issue: Feb, 2000

ABSTRACT

Objective: To summarize knowledge on treatment services for children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), trends in services from 1989 to 1996, types of services provided, service mix, and barriers to care.

Method: A review of the literature and analyses from 2 national surveys of physician practices are presented.

Results: Major shifts have occurred in stimulant prescriptions since 1989, with prescriptions now comprising three fourths of all visits to physicians by children with ADHD. Read more of the article...

Cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolites, aggression, and impulsivity in disruptive behavior disorders of children and adolescents.

Arch Gen Psychiatry 1990 May;47(5):419-26
Kruesi MJ, Rapoport JL, Hamburger S, Hibbs E, Potter WZ, Lenane M, Brown GL

National Institute of Mental Health, Child Psychiatry Branch, Bethesda, MD 20892.

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, a metabolite of serotonin, were measured in relation to aggression, impulsivity, and social functioning in 29 children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders.

The cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid level was low compared with that of age-, sex-, and race-matched patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Read more of the article...

Reduction of (3H)-imipramine binding sites on platelets of conduct-disordered children.

Neuropsychopharmacology 1987 Dec;1(1):55-62
Stoff DM, Pollock L, Vitiello B, Behar D, Bridger WH

Medical College of Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatry, Philadelphia.

Binding characteristics of tritiated imipramine on blood platelets were determined in daytime hospitalized prepubertal children who had mixed diagnoses of conduct disorder (CD) plus attention deficit disorder hyperactivity (ADHD) and in inpatient adolescents who had a history of aggressive behavior. Read more of the article...

About 5 percent of school-age children have ADHD. Children with untreated ADHD have higher than normal rates of school problems, social problems, and even injury.

ADHD frequently co-occurs with other problems, such as depression and anxiety disorders, conduct disorder, drug abuse, or antisocial behavior.

Although ADHD is relatively common, our knowledge of the problem is fairly limited.

It is pretty common today for ADHD treatment to include a variety of approaches, such as drug therapy, counseling, supportive services in schools and communities, diet interventions, and alternative treatments such as Attend.

The medical literature offers many studies carried out over brief treatment periods to try to find out what the best treatment for ADHD really is. Read more of the article...