Journal of Attention Disorders最新文献

Objective: The study aimed to investigate whether the fine motor skills measured by the Functional Dexterity Test (FDT) in ADHD children differ from healthy controls. The second aim was to assess the applicability of the FDT assessment method among ADHD children.

Method: The FDT results as an objective assessment of hand skills were compared between 7 and 17 years old ADHD cases (n = 146) and age and gender-matched healthy controls (n = 213).

Results: We found lower dominant and non-dominant processing time (respectively for dominant hand and non-dominant hand p = .001, effect size Cliff's Delta = .22; p = .001, ES Cliff's Delta = .29), higher peg processing speed (p = .001, ES Cliff's Delta = .23; p = .001, ES Cliff's Delta = .29), higher total error (p = .001, ES Cliff's Delta = .40; p = .001, ES Cliff's Delta = .51), and total FDT time (p = .0017, ES Cliff's Delta = .14; p = .011, ES Cliff's Delta = .16) in ADHD patients compared to healthy controls.

Conclusion: Manual dexterity evaluation would be helpful to detect the fine motor skill deficits of ADHD children. Although ADHD children were advantageous regarding speed, they were disadvantageous regarding processing errors and total process time. Therefore, the error time data should be considered in evaluating ADHD children, unlike healthy children.

Background: Adolescent-specific ADHD self-report screening measures can greatly increase the likelihood of correct diagnosis and timely treatment of ADHD in adolescents. This study provides preliminary evidence for evaluating the reliability and validity of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale-Revised (ASRS-R) in a school-based sample of Chinese adolescents.

Methods: The ASRS-R and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were administered to 867 adolescents aged 12 to 16 years (M_age = 13.08 years). Construct validity was assessed using correlation analysis of the ASRS-R with the SDQ. Moreover, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal consistency, retest reliability, and measurement invariance of the scales were examined by gender.

Results: CFA showed a two-dimensional factor structure of the ASRS-R, and the model fitted the data well (χ²/df = 4.370, RMSEA = 0.062, TLI = 0.932, CFI = 0.940, GFI = 0.927, AGFI = 0.907, and SRMR = 0.038). The ASRS-R scale was invariant across gender and had satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .934) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .874). The construct validity, as calculated using the SDQ, was also acceptable.

Conclusion: The ASRS-R can be a psychometrically reliable self-report instrument and provide preliminary support as a simple tool for identifying ADHD symptoms in Chinese adolescents. The findings provide evidence for extending the application of the ASRS, previously limited to adults, to the adolescent populations.

Objective: Children with ADHD often experience functional impairments across various aspects of daily life. This study addresses the dearth of longitudinal research on functional impairment trajectories from preschool to school age in children with symptoms of ADHD and comorbid disorders.

Methods: We investigated the extent to which functional impairments were associated with ADHD symptoms, along with behavioral and anxiety symptoms, from age 3.5 to 8 years. Utilizing parent- and teacher-reported data, we analyzed associations between global impairment, and dimension scores (e.g., family; child quality of life (QoL); learning; play/leisure activities; and friends) and symptoms at ages 3.5 and 8 years (n = 783).

Results: The mean parent global impairment score increased from 0.31 (standard deviation (SD) = 0.40) to 0.83 (SD = 0.63) from 3.5 to 8 years, while the teacher impairment scores slightly decreased. Specific parent impairment dimension scores, particularly QoL, learning, and friends, significantly increased. Preschool ADHD and comorbid behavioral symptoms reported by parents weakly predicted impairment at 8 years. By age 8 years, impairment and symptoms exhibited moderate to strong correlations for all impairment dimensions. Parents reported greater child impairment during school age across settings compared to preschool, while teachers' impairment profiles remained consistent across ages.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that parents perceive impairment as more pronounced at age 8 years and more strongly associated with symptoms of both ADHD and comorbid disorders than at age 3.5 years. Notably, for teachers, a robust correlation between inattention symptoms and learning impairment was observed, with substantially higher impairment scores reported for boys compared to girls.

Objectives: The present study performed a systematic review of the scientific literature that deals with the academic performance of university students with ADHD, collecting the research conducted between 2018 and 2024. Likewise, we aimed to know the factors that influence on academic performance and evaluate the tools used in the collection of ADHD symptoms and educational data.

Methods: The electronic databases PubMed, PsycInfo, and Scopus were used to search studies using PRISMA guidelines. Quantitative studies selected had to discuss about academic performance in college students with ADHD. For each study, quality of evidence was examined using the Quality Assessment Tool of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

Results: Fifteen studies with good-fair quality were included in the review. These studies demonstrated that an ADHD diagnosis or significant ADHD symptoms are associated with lower academic performance in college students, particularly those with inattention symptoms. Additionally, factors such as executive functions, medication use, and study strategies also influence the academic performance of these students. The most commonly used instruments for the assessment of ADHD were the screening measures ADHD Self-Report Scale and the ADHD Rating Scale-Self Report Version. To assess academic performance half of the studies collected the Grade Point Average directly from university records, while in other studies, students were asked directly for their grades.

Conclusion: Overall, ADHD has a relevant impact on the academic performance of university students, but the evaluation methodology used has some differences with respect to child's evaluations procedures. Therefore, studies in this population must include not only self-reported symptomatology, but also assessments from clinicians specialized in adult ADHD.

Objective: In preterm and very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, attention-related problems have been found to be more pronounced and emerge later as academic difficulties that may persist into school age. In response, based on three attention networks: alerting, orienting, and executive attention, we examined the development of attention functions at 42 months (not corrected for prematurity) as a follow-up study of VLBW (n = 23) and normal birth weight (NBW: n = 48) infants.

Method: The alerting and orienting attention networks were examined through an overlap task with or without warning signal. The orienting network was also examined through the distribution of gaze points when exposed to videos of human faces talking and silently looking straight ahead. Executive attention was examined using a parental report measure for temperamental self-regulation, effortful control.

Results: In the overlap task, the difference between VLBWs and NBWs was not the latency of attentional disengagement but the fact that VLBWs were less focused on the fixation stimulus (F(1,60) = 10.80, p < .01, η_p² = .071) and seemed to profit more from auditory warning signals than NBWs (F(1,60) = 7.13, p = .01, η_p² = .106). Moreover, there was no intergroup difference regarding lateral (right or left) or feature (eye or mouth) attention bias toward the face videos. Further, longer latencies in overlap condition were significantly positively associated with high effortful control scores only in the NBW group (r = .36, p = .018).

Conclusion: Results indicate that poor underlying alertness and orienting relating to atypical lateralization may affect cognitive and behavioral abnormalities in VLBWs.

Introduction: Conflicting findings exist regarding the link between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the frontal QRS-T (fQRS-T) angle and its correlation with symptom severity in children diagnosed with ADHD.

Methods: The study population consisted of 172 patients diagnosed with ADHD (120 drug naive and 52 drug positive) and 82 healthy controls. ADHD symptoms were assessed using the Atilla Turgay DSM-IV-Based Screening and Assessment Scale for Disruptive Conduct Disorders (T-DSM-IV-Scale). The fQRS-T angle and corrected QT (QTc) interval were obtained from the automated reports of 12-lead electrocardiography device for each patient.

Results: QTc interval and fQRS-T angle were significantly different among the groups. Post hoc analyses showed that QTc interval and fQRS-T angle of ADHD drug naive and ADHD drug positive patients were significantly higher than the healthy control groups. However, there was no significant difference between drug naive and drug positive patients regarding QTc interval and fQRS-T angle. Both QTc interval and fQRS-T angle showed positive correlations with the severity of ADHD symptoms (r = 0.263, p = .001 and r = 0.175, p = .023 respectively).

Conclusion: We found that fQRS-T angle was significantly wider in children with ADHD. Therefore, we suggest that fQRS-T angle may help in cardiovascular risk assessment in children with ADHD.

Objective: The goal of this study was to examine the experiences of women diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood.

Methods: Benefits and costs associated with obtaining the diagnosis were examined in two focus groups conducted virtually. Factors hindering and facilitating the identification, assessment, and subsequent treatment of ADHD were also explored. Focus groups were conducted virtually and together included 14 women (M_age = 39.43, SD = 6.37) who were diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood.

Results: The majority of women described numerous benefits of receiving a diagnosis of ADHD, including validation/self-compassion, adaptive coping, and social support. Negative aspects of the diagnosis, including difficulties accessing care, the burden of care, limitations to existing evidence-based treatments, and stigma were also identified by some women. Furthermore, women described variable diagnostic experiences, with many indicating that they had not recognized their own symptoms of ADHD, as well as diagnostic complexity and other factors that masked identification of ADHD. Women described a range of diagnostic assessment procedures, as well as considerable self-advocacy to convince their providers to consider the diagnosis of ADHD.

Conclusion: These lived experiences of women diagnosed with ADHD provide critical insight into improving clinical care for ADHD in women. Recommendations to increase accurate and timely identification of ADHD in women and advance efforts toward effective and equitable care are discussed.

Objective: To evaluate care transition and medication use in young adults with ADHD in Sweden.

Method: Observational retrospective study of patients with ADHD from the Swedish National Patient Register, Prescribed Drug Register, and Cause of Death Register (2018-2020). Last contact with pediatric psychiatric care, first contact with adult psychiatric care, and medication use were described for ages 18 to 21 years, inclusive.

Results: Of 19,233 patients who had dispensed ADHD treatment, 85.8% had received adult psychiatric care by 21 years of age. The proportion of patients on medication was highest at age 18 years (80.1%), decreasing to 36.1% by age 21 years. By 21 years, there were significantly more patients on versus off ADHD medication who had received healthcare for autism, been prescribed selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, and received adult psychiatric outpatient visits (all p < .0001).

Conclusion: This study demonstrates declining ADHD medication use during the pediatric-to-adult care transition for patients in Sweden.

Objective: To examine the association between childhood ADHD and lifestyle risk factors (physical inactivity and high fast-food consumption) from adolescence to early adulthood.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used secondary data from Wave I to III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) in a national representative sample of adolescents (n = 6,814). Multivariable Poisson regression and Generalized Estimating Equation were used to estimate adjusted relative risks (aRRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs), controlling for confounders.

Results: Childhood ADHD was associated with an increased risk of high fast-food consumption (aRR = 1.49, 95% CI [1.23, 1.80]) in early adulthood, but not in adolescence (aRR = 1.11, 95% CI [0.90, 1.37]), after adjusting for confounders. The associations between childhood ADHD and physical inactivity were not statistically significant from adolescence to early adulthood.

Conclusion: Findings of this study extend the current understanding of the impact of childhood ADHD on greater risk of fast-food consumption, which underscores the importance to develop interventions for promoting healthy diet in children with ADHD.

Objective: The aim of the present systematic review was to consolidate findings related to emotion recognition accuracy among individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The review also examined emotion recognition accuracy assessment methods as well as the contribution of gender to emotional recognition accuracy.

Method: A total of 43 articles were identified based on inclusion criteria using PRISMA guidelines for article retrieval.

Results: 58% of retrieved articles reported significantly decreased emotion recognition accuracy among individuals with ADHD relative to neurotypical peers, with either global or emotion-specific differences identified. Notably, studies finding a significant difference in emotion recognition accuracy were of significantly lower quality according to a quality review checklist than the articles finding no difference (p < .001). For example, when use of control conditions and multiple measures of emotion recognition accuracy were employed, no study found a significant difference in emotion recognition accuracy between individuals with and without ADHD. Regarding potential gender differences, not a single study included gender diversity beyond sex assigned at birth. The majority (86%) of studies included a predominantly male sample, with 15% including only male participants. While differences in emotion recognition accuracy were found between male and female participants in 7% of cases, future research is needed to identify the contribution of gender diversity.