Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder often experience a profound disconnect between the emotional help they crave and the support they feel they receive from romantic partners. A new study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships indicates that the severity of ADHD symptoms directly influences these interpersonal dynamics. The findings suggest that the specific…

Janelle Wagner, PhD, a clinical psychologist and research professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, provided clinical insights on a recently presented study on whether elevated ADHD symptoms impact post epilepsy surgery seizure freedom.

A recent study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders provides new evidence that difficult childhood experiences may contribute to symptoms of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in young adults. The findings suggest that these adverse events disrupt an individual’s ability to regulate emotions and practice self-compassion, which in turn exacerbates attention and hyperactivity issues.

Key Point: Compared with healthy control participants, children with ADHD had increased functional connectivity in the right precentral gyrus, which is associated with motor-related neural activity.

[Excerpt] First of all, congratulations on getting the care and medication you need — I’m so glad it’s helping! But don’t be discouraged that it hasn’t solved everything, especially your finances. “Certain things tend to be a lot harder for people with ADHD, and research shows that money is one of them,” says Dr. Christine…

Even as a kid, Alice Lovatt was always getting in trouble for being late. She was often embarrassed after letting down friends for her tardiness, and she was routinely stressed about arriving at school on time. “I just don’t seem to have that clock that ticks by in my head,” said Lovatt, a musician and…

Summary: Attention depends on the brain’s ability to filter out distractions, but new research suggests this works best when background brain activity is quieter. Scientists found that lowering certain versions of the Homer1 gene improved focus in mice by calming neural noise. The effect was strongest during a critical developmental window. This approach could inspire…

A new study published in Epidemiology provides evidence that returning to in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic benefited children’s mental health. While some mainstream reporting has misinterpreted these results as an absolute drop in cases, the research analyzes insurance claims from California to show that school reopenings instead helped slow the rising rates of mental…

A new comprehensive analysis suggests that maternal use of antibiotics during pregnancy is associated with a slightly elevated likelihood of the child receiving a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The research indicates that this statistical link is stronger when antibiotics are administered during the second or third trimesters. These findings were published recently in the…

For decades, clinicians have wrestled with a thorny question: Do antidepressants taken during pregnancy increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children? Or do those risks stem from the underlying psychiatric illness itself? A comprehensive new review in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry suggests the answer is more complicated (and, at the same time, more…

TOPLINE: Early breastfeeding, particularly during the first 4 months of life, was associated with fewer emotional and behavioural problems in children at the age of 4 years. Children breastfed for this duration had reduced internalising and externalising problems, aggressive behaviour, and symptoms related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). No additional benefit…

In an NIH-funded study led by researchers from Mass General Brigham, children with more adverse prenatal exposures (APEs) showed higher rates of behavior problems that persisted into mid-adolescence, faster cortical thinning across multiple brain regions, and more depressive symptoms than children with fewer APEs. The researchers’ results are published in JAMA Psychiatry.