ADHD medications are generally considered to be effective at reducing the symptoms of ADHD, but less research has been done to measure the real-life impact of medication use on individuals with ADHD. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden examined the medical records and test scores of 61 640 individuals with a diagnosis of ADHD between 2006 and 2013 to determine if ADHD medication use leads to higher test scores on post-secondary entrance examinations and published their results in JAMA Psychiatry.

ADHD symptom type and gender influenced risk for smoking, according to recent findings that indicated greater association between ADHD and smoking outcomes in females...To determine associations between ADHD symptoms and development of smoking in adolescents, researchers analyzed three population-based, same-sex twin samples (n = 3,762) using twin difference methods.

Teenagers with ADHD have a much higher chance of becoming young mothers and fathers than their contemporaries. That is the conclusion of a large Danish register study, which shows that individuals diagnosed with ADHD are twice as likely to have children in their teenage years (between the ages of 12 and 19).

Researchers found that inattentiveness in childhood was linked to worse academic performance up to 10 years later in children with and without ADHD, even when they accounted for the children's intellectual ability. The results highlight the long-term effects that childhood inattention can have on academic performance, and suggest that parents and teachers should address inattentiveness in childhood.

It’s no secret that a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may have coexisting conditions such as depression and anxiety. However, each person’s situation varies – from genetic factors to environmental issues and everything in between – which can potentially muddy the waters for parents seeking a clear diagnosis. ADHD and autism spectrum disorder present one such example. Maybe your child just has ADHD. Perhaps it’s ASD instead. Then again, it could be that he or she exhibits traits from both.

In particular, ADHD can make it harder to regulate your emotions. One way to think of it is that impulsivity is a core symptom of ADHD, and that includes impulsivity in feeling and acting on emotions...So, naturally, the question is: what treatment helps people with ADHD regulate their emotions? Recently, a team of psychologists addressed this question, looking specifically at whether medication helps people with ADHD regulate their emotions more easily.

I worked for five years as a special education teacher, and know that teaching kids with ADHD can be quite a challenge. While medications may help many students cope with the stress of coming back to the classroom, drugs alone often aren’t enough. Here are 10 strategies to help students with ADHD have a smooth transition into the school year:

“All families encounter stressors,” says Dr. Francisco X. Castellanos, a professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and director of the Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at NYU Langone Medical Center...Add a family member with attention deficity hyperactivity disorder into the mix, and existing stress can be magnified. Castellanos says that an ADHD child, who usually exhibits intense behaviors to begin with, “may become even more hyperactive or impulsive in response to the stressors.”