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ADHD Fact Sheet Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is the current term for a specific developmental disorder seen in both children and adults that comprises deficits in behavioral inhibition, sustained attention and resistance to distraction, and the regulation of one's activities level to the demands of a situation (hyperactivity or restlessness). This disorder has had numerous different labels over the past century, including hyperactive child syndrome, hyper kinetic reaction of childhood, minimal brain dysfunction, and attention deficit disorder (with or without hyperactivity). Major Characteristics The predominant features of this disorder include the following: 1. Impaired response inhibition, impulse control, or the capacity to delay gratification. These are often noted in the individual's inability to stop and think before acting; to wait one's turn while playing games, conversing with others, or having to wait in line; to interrupt responding quickly when it becomes evident that the individual's actions are no longer effective; to resist distractions while concentrating or working; to work for larger, longer-term rewards rather than opting for smaller, more immediate ones; and to inhibit the dominant or immediate reaction to an event, as the situation may demand. 2. Excessive task-irrelevant activity or activity poorly regulated to the demands of a situation. Individuals with ADHD in many cases are noted to be excessively fidgety, restless, and "on the go." They display excessive movement not required to complete a task, such as wriggling their feet and legs, tapping things, rocking while seated, or shifting their posture or position while performing relatively boring tasks. Younger children with the disorder may show excessive running, climbing, and other gross motor activity. Although this tends to decline with age, even teenagers with ADHD are more restless and fidgety than their peers. In adults with the disorder, this restlessness may be more subjective than outwardly observable, although some adults remain outwardly restless as well and report a need to always be busy or doing something and being unable to sit still. 3. Poor sustained attention or persistence of effort to tasks. This problem often arises when the individual is assigned boring, tedious, protracted, or repetitive activities that lack intrinsic appeal to the person. Such individuals often fail to show the same level of persistence, "stick-to-it-tiveness," motivation, and willpower of others their age when uninteresting yet important tasks must be performed. They often report becoming easily bored with such tasks and consequently shift from one uncompleted activity to another without completing these activities. Loss of concentration during tedious, boring, or protracted tasks in commonplace, as is an inability to return to the task on which they were working should they be unexpectedly interrupted. Thus, they are easily distracted during periods when concentration is important to the task at hand. They may also have problems with completing routine assignments without direct supervision and being able to stay on task during independent work. These are the three most common areas of difficulty associated with ADHD. However, research suggests that those with ADHD, particularly the subtypes associated with impulsive behavior (discussed later), may also have difficulties in the following areas of psychological functioning: 1. Remembering to do things, or working memory. Working memory refers to the capacity to hold information in mind that will be used to guide one's actions either now or at a later time. It is essential for remembering to do things in the near future. Those with ADHD often have difficulties with working memory and so are described as forgetful around doing things, unable to keep important information in mind that they will need to guide their actions later, and disorganized in their thinking and other activities as they often lose track of the goal of their activities. They may often be described as acting without hindsight or forethought and being less able to anticipate and prepare for future events as well as others are, all of which seem to depend on working memory. Recent research suggests that those with ADHD cannot sense or use time as adequately as others in their daily activities; thus they are often late for appointments and deadlines, ill-prepared for upcoming activities, and less able to pursue long-term goals and plans. Problems with time management and organizing themselves for upcoming events are commonplace in older children and adults with the disorder. 2. Delayed development of internal language (the mind's voice) and rule following. Recent research suggests that children with ADHD are significantly delayed in the development of internal language--the private voice inside our mind that we employ to converse with ourselves, contemplate events, and direct or command our own behavior. This private speech is absolutely essential to the normal development of contemplation, reflection, and self-regulation. Its delay in those with ADHD contributes to significant problems with their ability to follow through on rules and instructions; to read and follow directions carefully; to follow through on their own plans, rules, and "do-lists"; and even to act with legal or moral principles in mind. When combined with their difficulties with working memory, this problem with self-talk or private speech often results in significant interference with reading comprehension, especially of complex, uninteresting, or extended reading assignments. 3. Difficulties with regulation of emotions, motivation, and arousal. Children and adults with ADHD often have problems inhibiting their emotional reactions to events as well as do others of their age. It is not that the emotions they experience are inappropriate but that those with ADHD are more likely to publicly manifest the emotions they experience than would someone else. They seem less able to "internalize" their feelings, to keep them to themselves, and even to moderate them then they do so as others might do. Consequently, they are likely to appear to others as less emotionally manure, more reactive with their feelings, and more hot-headed, quick- tempered, and easily frustrated by events. Coupled with this problem with emotion regulation is the difficulties they have in generating intrinsic motivation for tasks that have no immediate payoff or appeal to them. This capacity to create private motivation, drive, or determination often makes them appear to lack will-power or self-discipline as they cannot stay with things that do not provide immediate reward, stimulation, or interest to them. Their motivation remains dependent on the immediate environment for how hard and how long they will work, whereas others develop a capacity for intrinsically motivating themselves in the absence of immediate rewards or other consequences. Also related to these difficulties with regulating emotion and motivation is that of regulating their general level of arousal to meet situational demands. Those with ADHD find it difficult to activate or arouse themselves to initiate work that must be done, often complain of being unable to stay alert or even awake in boring situations, and frequently seem to be day dreamy, or "in a fog" when they should be more alert, focused, and actively engaged in a task. 4. Diminished problem-solving ability, ingenuity, and flexibility in pursuing long-term goals. Oftentimes, when we are engaged in goal-directed activities, we encounter problems that are obstacles to the goal's attainment. At these times, individuals must be capable of quickly generating a variety of options to themselves, considering their respective outcomes, and selecting among them one that seems most likely to surmount the obstacle so they can continue toward their goal. Persons with ADHD find such hurdles to their goals to be more difficult to surmount; they often give up their goals in the face of obstacles and do not take the time to think through other options that could help them succeed toward their goal. Thus they may appear as less flexible in approaching problem situations and more likely to respond automatically or on impulse, and so are less creative at overcoming the roadblocks to their goals than others are likely to be. These problems may even be evident in the speech and writing of those with the disorder, as they are less able to quickly assemble their ideas into a more organized, coherent explanation of their thoughts. Thus they are less able to rapidly assemble their actions or ideas into a chain of responses that effectively accomplishes the goal given to them, be it verbal or behavioral in nature. 5. Greater than normal variability in their task or work performance. It is typical of those with ADHD, especially those subtypes associated with impulsive behavior, to show substantial variability across time in the performance of their work. These wide swings may be found in the quality, quantity, and even speed of their work. In addition, they fail to maintain a relatively even pattern of productivity and accuracy in their work from moment to moment and day to day. Such variability is often puzzling to others who witness it, as it is clear that at times a person with ADHD can complete his or her work quickly and correctly whereas other times his or her tasks are performed poorly, inaccurately, and quite erratically. Indeed, some researchers see this pattern of high variability in work- related activities to be as much a hallmark of the disorder as is the poor inhibition and inattention described above. Other Characteristics Several other developmental characteristics are associated with the disorder: 1. Early onset of the major characteristics. The
symptoms of ADHD appear to arise, on average, between 3 and 6 years of
age. This is particularly so for subtypes of ADHD associated with
hyperactive and impulsive behavior. Others may not develop their
symptoms until somewhat later in childhood. But certainly the vast
majority of those with the disorder have had some symptoms since before
the age of 13. Those who have ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type,
which is not associated with impulsiveness, appear to develop their
attention problems somewhat later than do the other sub- 2. Situational variation of symptoms. The major symptoms of ADHD are likely to change markedly as a consequence of the nature of the situation in which the person happens to be. Research suggests that those with ADHD behave better in one-to-one situations, when doing tasks that they enjoy or find interesting, when there is some immediate payoff for behaving well, when they are supervised, when their work is done earlier in the day rather than later, and, for children, when they are with their fathers compared to their mothers. Conversely, those with ADHD may manifest more of their symptoms in group settings, when they must perform boring work, when they must work independently of supervision, when their work must be done later in the day, and (for children) when they are with their mothers. Sometimes, or in some cases, these situational factors may have little affect on the person's level of ADHD symptoms, but they have been noted often enough in research to make such situational changes in their symptoms important to appreciate. 3. Relatively chronic course. ADHD symptoms are often quite developmentally stable. Although the absolute level of symptoms does decline with age, this is true of the inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and activity levels of normal individuals as well. Thus those with ADHD may be improving in their behavior but not always catching up with their peer group in this regard. This seems to leave them chronically behind others of their age in their capacity to inhibit behavior, sustain attention, control distractibility, and regulate their activity level. Research suggests that among children clinically diagnosed with the disorder in childhood, 50-80% will continue to meet the criteria for the diagnosis in adolescence, and 10-65% may continue to do so in adulthood. Whether or not they have the full syndrome in adulthood, at least 50-70% may continue to manifest some symptoms that are causing them some impairment in their adult life. Adult Outcome It has been estimated that anywhere from 15% to 50% of those with ADHD ultimately outgrow the disorder. However, these figures come from follow-up studies in which the current and more rigorous diagnostic criteria for the disorder were not used. When more appropriate and modern criteria are employed, probably only 20-35% of children with the disorder no longer have any symptoms resulting in impairment in their adult life. Over the course of their lives, a significant minority of those with ADHD experience a greater risk for developing oppositional and defiant behavior (>50%), conduct problems and antisocial difficulties (25-45%), learning disabilities (25-40%), low self-esteem, and depression (25%). Approximately 5-10% of those with ADHD may develop more serious mental disorders, such as manic-depression. Between 10% and 20% may develop antisocial personality disorder by adulthood, most of whom will also have problems with substance abuse. Overall, approximately 10-25% develop difficulties with overuse, dependence on, or even abuse of legal (e.g., alcohol and tobacco) or illegal (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, and illicit use of prescription drugs) substances, with this risk being greatest among those who had conduct disorder or delinquency as adolescents. Despite these risks, upwards of half or more of those who have ADHD do not develop these associated difficulties or disorders. However, the majority of those with ADHD certainly experienced problems with school performance, with as many as 30-50% having been retained in their school grade at least once, and 25-36% never completing high school. As adults, those with ADHD are likely to be undereducated relative to their intellectual ability and family educational background. They are also likely to experience difficulties with work adjustment and may be underemployed in their occupations relative to their intelligence and educational and family backgrounds. They tend to change their jobs more often than others do, sometimes out of boredom or because of interpersonal problems in the workplace. They also tend to have a greater turnover of friendships and dating relationships and seem more prone to marital discord and even divorce. Difficulties with speeding while driving are relatively commonplace, as are more traffic citations for this behavior, and, in some cases, more motor vehicle accidents than others are likely to experience in their driving careers. Thus, they are more likely to have had their driver's license suspended or revoked. Subtypes Since 1980, it has become possible to place those with ADHD into several subtypes, depending on the combinations of symptoms they experience. Those who have difficulties primarily with impulsive and hyperactive behavior and not with attention or concentration are now referred to as having ADHD, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type. Individuals with the opposite pattern, significant inattentiveness without being impulsive or hyperactive are called ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type. However, most individuals with the disorder will manifest both of these clinical features and thus are referred to as ADHD, Combined Type. Research on those with Combined Type suggests that they are likely to develop their hyperactivity and/or impulsive symptoms first and usually during the preschool years. At this age, then, they may be diagnosed as having the Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type. However, in most of these cases, they eventually progress to developing the difficulties with attention span, persistence, and distractibility within a few years of entering school and are then diagnosed as having the Combined Type. There is considerably less research on ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type, or what used to be referred to as Attention Deficit Disorder without Hyperactivity. What research does exist suggests some qualitative differences between the attention problems these individuals experience and those with the other types of ADHD in which hyperactive or impulsive behavior is present. ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type appears to be associated with more daydreaming, passiveness, sluggishness, difficulties with focused or selective attention (filtering important from unimportant information), slow processing of information, mental fogginess and confusion, social quietness or apprehensiveness, hypo activity, and inconsistent retrieval of information from memory. It is also considerably less likely to be associated with impulsiveness (by definition) as well as oppositional-defiant behavior, conduct problems, or delinquency. Should further research continue to demonstrate such differences, there would be good reason to view this subtype as actually a separate and distinct disorder from that of ADHD. Prevalence ADHD occurs in approximately 3-7% of the childhood population and approximately 2-5% of the adult population. Among children the gender ratio is approximately 3:1 with boys more likely to have the disorder than girls. Among adults, the gender ratio falls to 2:1 or lower. The disorder has been found to exist in virtually every country in which it has been investigated, including North America, South America, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Europe, Japan, China, Turkey and the Middle East. The disorder may not be referred to as ADHD in these countries and may not be treated in the same fashion as in North America, but there is little doubt that the disorder is virtually universal among human populations. The disorder is more likely to be found in families in which others have the disorder or where depression is more common. It is also more likely to occur in those with conduct problems and delinquency, tic disorders or Tourette syndrome, learning disabilities, or those with a history of prenatal alcohol or tobacco-smoke exposure, premature delivery or significantly low birth weight, or significant trauma to the frontal regions of the brain. Etiologies ADHD has very strong biological contributions to its occurrence. Although precise causes have not yet been identified, there is little question that heredity/genetics makes the largest contribution to the expression of the disorder in the population. The heritability of ADHD averages approximately 80%, meaning that genetic factors account for 80% of the differences among individuals in this set of behavioral traits. For comparison, consider that this figure rivals that for the role of genetics in human height. Researchers have identified several genes associated with the disorder, and undoubtedly they will identify more given that ADHD represents a set of complex behavioral traits and thus a single gene is unlikely to account for the disorder. In instances in which heredity does not seem to be a factor, difficulties during pregnancy, prenatal exposure to alcohol and tobacco smoke, prematurity of delivery and significantly low birth weight, and excessively high body lead levels, as well as postnatal injury to the prefrontal regions of the brain, have all been found to contribute to the risk for the disorder in varying degrees. Research does not support popularly held views that ADHD arises from excessive sugar intake, food additives, excessive viewing of television, or poor child management by parents. Some drugs used to treat seizure disorders in children may have side effects that increase symptoms of ADHD in those children, but these effects are reversible. Treatment No treatments have been found to cure this disorder, but many treatments exist which can effectively assist with its management. Chief among these treatments is the education of the family and school staff about the nature of the disorder and its management, in the case of children with the disorder, and the education and counseling of the adult with ADHD and their family members. But among the treatments that result in the greatest degree of improvement in the symptoms of the disorder, research overwhelmingly supports the use of the stimulant medications for this disorder (e.g., methylphenidate [Ritalin], D-amphetamine [Dexedrine], a combination of different forms of amphetamine [Aderall], and, in rare cases, pemoline [Cylert]). Evidence also shows that the tricyclic antidepressants, in particular desipramine, may also be effective in managing symptoms of the disorder as well as coexisting symptoms of mood disorder or anxiety. However, these antidepressants do not appear to be as effective as the stimulants. Research evidence is rather mixed on whether or not clonidine is of specific benefit for management of these symptoms apart from its well-known sedation effects. A small percentage of individuals with ADHD may require combinations of these medications, or others, for the management of their disorder, often because of the coexistence of other mental disorders with their ADHD. Psychological treatments, such as behavior modification in the classroom and parent training in child behavior management methods, have been shown to produce short-term benefits in these settings. However, the improvements they render are often limited to those settings in which treatment is occurring and do not generalize to other settings that are not included in the management program. Moreover, recent studies suggest, as with the medications discussed above, that the gains obtained during treatment may not last once treatment has been terminated. Thus, it appears that treatments for ADHD must often be combined and must be maintained over long periods to sustain the initial treatment effects. In this regard, ADHD should be viewed like any other chronic medical condition that requires ongoing treatment for its effective management but whose treatments do not rid the individual of the disorder. Some children with ADHD may benefit from social skills training provided it is incorporated into their school program. Children with ADHD are now eligible for special educational services in the public schools under both the Individual with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA; Public Law 101-476) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-112). Adults with ADHD are also eligible for accommodations in their workplace or educational settings under the Americans with Disabilities Act provided that the severity of their ADHD is such that it produces impairments in one or more major areas of life functioning and that they disclose their disorder to their employer or educational institution. Adults with the disorder may also require counseling about their condition, vocational assessment and counseling to find the most suitable work environment, time management and organizational assistance, and other suggestions for coping with the disorder. The medications noted previously that are useful for children with ADHD have recently been proven to be as effective in the management of ADHD in adults. Treatments with little or no evidence for their effectiveness include dietary management, such as removal of sugar from the diet, high doses of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, or other popular health food remedies, long-term psychotherapy or psychoanalysis, biofeedback, play therapy, chiropractic treatment, or sensory-integration training, despite the widespread popularity of some of these treatment approaches. The treatment of ADHD requires a comprehensive behavioral, psychological, educational, and sometimes medical evaluation followed by education of the individual or his or her family members as to the nature of the disorder and the methods proven to assist with its management. Treatment is likely to be multidisciplinary, requiring the assistance of the mental health, educational, and medical professions at various points in its course. Treatment must be provided over long periods to assist those with ADHD in the ongoing management of their disorder. In so doing, many with the disorder can lead satisfactory, reasonably adjusted, and productive lives. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THESE LINKS
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