Related Experiment Videos
Hyperkinetic or attention deficit disorder
1Child & Family Consultation Service, Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel.
Insights
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is common in childhood, particularly in young males. Its causes involve biological and environmental factors, and effective management requires a combined approach, though outcomes remain unpredictable.
Area of Science:
- Childhood developmental disorders
- Neurodevelopmental disorders
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent childhood condition.
- Growing empirical knowledge necessitates updated syntheses for clinicians.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an up-to-date synthesis of current knowledge on ADHD.
- To inform practicing clinicians on the condition's epidemiology, causes, and management.
Main Methods:
- Selective review of epidemiological, experimental, and clinical studies from the past decade.
Main Results:
- ADHD is common, affecting young school-age males most frequently; prevalence varies by criteria.
- High overlap exists with conduct disorder.
- Causes are multifactorial, involving biological (genetic, neurochemical) and environmental factors, with higher biological risk in severely hyperactive girls.
- Effective management integrates pharmacological, psychological, and educational strategies.
- Outcomes and long-term psychosocial adaptation are often uncertain.
Conclusions:
- ADHD stems from biological vulnerabilities (often genetic) interacting with environmental disadvantages.
- It can be viewed as a self-regulation disorder linked to early caregiver-child interactions and attachment disruptions.
Background:
In the face of rapidly expanding empirical knowledge about this common childhood condition, there is a need for an up-to-date synthesis, especially for the use of practising clinicians.
Method:
The main epidemiological, experimental and clinical studies over the past decade are selectively reviewed.
Results:
Hyperkinetic/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is common, with young school-age males most frequently affected. The prevalence figures vary depending on the criteria used. Overlap with conduct disorder is high. The causes are likely to stem from a combination of biological, often genetically determined neurochemical disturbances, and environmental disadvantages, with the biological risk tending to be highest in severely hyperactive girls. Good clinical management combines pharmacological, psychological and educational approaches in a sustained manner. Even then, the outcome is often equivocal and the long-term psychosocial adaptation unpredictable.
Conclusions:
Clinically significant hyperactivity is rooted in biological, often genetically transmitted vulnerabilities, upon which environmental disadvantages transect. It may be viewed as a disorder of self-regulation with its roots partly in strained early caregiver-child interactions and disrupted primary attachments.