Researchers found that among more than 1,200 5- to 9-year-olds, those with some of the most common childhood ills were no less happy with their lives than other kids. They said the findings highlight an important point: Kids aren’t “defined” by their medical issues.

The Canadian province of Quebec has decided to adapt its education system to the increasing number of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Doctors in Canada recognise ADHD as a neurological disorder and treat it with medication, as well as advising to cut sugary foods and screen time. Our correspondents report on how…

Parents say it’s often impossible to find schools to educate bright kids who have disabilities. Now some are fighting to change that

Mental disorders are often interconnected, though previous research has only traced a few strands of the tangled web. But a new study has outlined the complicated paths in unusually comprehensive detail, revealing hidden relationships between the chances of having one mental disorder and developing a second. For the study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, scientists analyzed…

A Danish nationwide birth cohort study showed that the incidence rates of any mental disorder, substance use disorders, depression and anxiety disorders increased substantially by adolescence. By the end of adolescence, 11 in 100 individuals in the cohort had received a mental disorder diagnosis, according to the findings published in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Experts are concerned that health professionals are not identifying and treating individuals with ADHD as aggressively as they could.4-8 Several recent meta-analyses confirm pharmacological treatment’s short-term efficacy—and long-term efficacy to a lesser extent.4-8 Research into nonpharmacological interventions (table 12) is less robust. For this reason, experts recommend prescribing behavioral interventions, in combination with medication, as…

A new UCLA study suggests that brain cells called astrocytes, previously thought to provide mainly nourishment and housekeeping functions for neurons, may play a key role in the regulation of attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity.

Adult patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADHD experienced earlier onset of and more severe obsessive-compulsive symptoms, according to a large cross-sectional study. “Recent findings suggest that OCD and ADHD could share common genetic predisposition factors or be associated with dysfunctions in similar neurotransmitter pathways,” Thiago BlancoVieira, PhD, from the department of psychiatry, Federal University of…

A study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that children with ADHD used drugs or illicit substances at earlier ages on average than those not diagnosed with the condition. On average, children with ADHD also had higher rates of smoking marijuana and cigarettes and were more likely to carry those…

Children of women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than children of nonsmoking mothers, according to the first study to investigate the association between smoking and ADHD based on nicotine serum biomarker levels rather than self-reported smoking. Further, the investigation found that as the amount of smoking increases, so…

“In contrast to what may be expected, we observed that a poor diet does not predict the level of ADHD symptoms in children, either diagnosed or not. So, based on our study, dietary changes may not prevent or reduce ADHD symptoms,” said study author Trudy Voortman. She’s an assistant professor of nutritional epidemiology at Erasmus…

From kindergarten to fourth grade, kids with diagnosed ADHD had almost four times the odds of having a short stature (height <3rd percentile) versus kids without ADHD (odds ratio 3.88, 95% CI 1.69-8.88, P<0.01) after adjusting for sex, parental education, and family income, reported Ladan Davallow Ghajar, MD, of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville,…