[Predictors of hyperkinetic disorder--early recognition in childhood]

The prospective longitudinal Mannheim Study of Children at Risk followed the development of children from the age of 2 years up to the age of 8 years. Are there differences between the developmental risk load in toddlers (psychopathology, cognition, motor or neurological development, and educational differences) who suffer from a hyperactive disorder at age 8 and that of undisturbed children of the same age? Are there specific harbingers of hyperkinetic disorders for the group concerned?

In terms of their developmental risk load at the age of 2 years, 26 primary school children with hyperkinetic disorders were compared to 241 healthy primary school children, as well as to 25 children of the same age with emotional disturbances and 30 children of the same age with socially disruptive behavior.

A significant combination of predictors of later hyperkinetic disorders at primary school age proved to be increased fidgetiness and irritability, as well as a reduced language comprehension, at the age of two.

The predictive value of symptoms in early childhood for later hyperkinetic disorder in children of primary school age is higher than that of symptoms assessed in infancy, which although expected is without relevant specificity.