While a higher percentage of black children show the symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than white kids, they are less likely to be diagnosed or treated for the disorder, researchers report. The new study showed a similar trend when it came to Latino children: They were as likely as their white peers to exhibit the signs of ADHD, but less likely to be diagnosed or treated for it.

A disparity in ADHD diagnoses between white and black children is well established, but it remains unclear whether this is due to overdiagnosis in the one or underdiagnosis in the other. Researchers writing in the journal Pediatrics suggest that it's underdiagnosed in blacks, but as MedPage Today clinical reviewer F. Perry Wilson reports in this 150-second analysis, the data might not support that conclusion.

These findings are important, as CDC rank alcohol-attributable mortality as the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States...Investigators affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Chatham University in Pittsburgh, and Florida International University, showed that elevated levels of emotional impulsivity among children diagnosed with ADHD are associated with an increased risk for alcohol problems such as alcohol use disorder (AUD) in adulthood.

Researchers using a rodent model of childhood manganese exposure have found that too much manganese early in development causes lasting attention deficits and other impairments. Manganese is an essential element, required by the body in trace amounts...The most common source of exposure to excess manganese is drinking water from wells, because groundwater in some areas is naturally high in manganese. Soy-based infant formulas also have much higher levels of manganese than breast milk.

In the largest longitudinal study to date, Swedish researchers affiliated with the Karolinska Institutet and Örebro University showed that familial aggregation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increases significantly along with increasing genetic relatedness. These new findings were published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

New findings of a randomized controlled trial indicate that play-based intervention designed to improve the social play skills is effective among children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Investigators affiliated with The University of Sydney, the Curtin University in Perth, and Australian Catholic University published their findings in the journal PLoS One.