ADHD in Children

What is ADHD?
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood mental health conditions. The National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) estimate that it affects between 2% and 5% of children in the U.S. Symptoms usually appear in preschool or the early elementary school years and often continue through the teen years and into adulthood.

ADHD in children can interfere with learning and performance in school. It can also mean difficulty sleeping, adjusting to change and getting along with others. The results can be low test scores, poor organizational skills and study habits, problems getting along with others and low self-esteem.

Teens and adults with ADHD often have poor organization and follow-through skills, display high-risk behaviors such as drug or alcohol abuse, and have difficulty sustaining relationships or holding a job.

Signs & Symptoms
The three main characteristics of ADHD are hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. Most people fall into one of three subtypes: predominately hyperactive/impulsive, predominately inattentive, or the combined type, where both the hyperactive/impulsive and inattentive behaviors are displayed. Hyperactive/impulsive children tend to:

• Wiggle, fidget and squirm restlessly while sitting
• Run around, climb on things, touch everything in the room
• Leave their chairs when expected to sit still
• Shout out answers mid-question, talk out of turn, talk over others

Inattentive children will:

• Switch from one activity to another without completing any
• Be easily distracted by things going on around them
• Lose or forget things used regularly: keys, pencils, books
• Overlook details, do sloppy work, make careless mistakes

Children with the predominately inattentive type of ADHD often are not as readily diagnosed as those with the more obvious hyperactive and impulsive characteristics.

Who's at Risk?
No one knows what causes ADHD. However, research strongly suggests that ADHD is a biological condition and is not caused by environmental factors such as brain injury, food additives or bad parenting. Risk factors for ADHD include:

• Family history: About 1/3 of fathers with childhood ADHD have children with it.
• Gender: ADHD is diagnosed 3 times more often in boys than in girls (possibly because girls are less likely to exhibit aggressive behaviors).
• Presence of learning disabilities or other mental health conditions (although not always)

Professional Help
ADHD isn't easy to diagnose, and there is no single test to determine whether someone has it. In general, diagnosis is attempted if:

• Signs appear before age 7 and last at least 6 months
• Problems show up in at least two of these areas: school, home, work or social settings

To make a diagnosis, doctors will:

• Talk with the child, parents, teachers and health care providers
• Gather information on symptoms, plus medical, developmental, school, psychosocial and family histories
• Consider other causes, such as divorce or a family death
• Look for other medical or mental health conditions
• Observe the child's behavior

Every person's situation is different and no single treatment is the answer. The most effective course of action seems to be a combination of medication management and behavioral therapy.

• Medications can reduce hyperactivity and impulsivity and improve the ability to focus and pay attention.
• Behavioral therapy offers ways to cope with issues such as getting organized, dealing with social situations and completing schoolwork.

Priority Health members can check here for information on getting mental health assistance.

What You Can Do
Here are some ways to cope with ADHD in your family:

• Counseling helps people with ADHD accept and feel better about themselves.
• Parental skills training offers ways to manage a child's behavior. Some of these are: creating schedules and routines, having consistent rules, creating a system of rewards and penalties, giving timeouts for unacceptable behavior, looking for and praising good behavior.