Getting the Full Picture with ADHD

One of the challenges of identifying and treating children with mental health conditions is figuring out what symptoms are related to the condition. This is especially true with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.

In a recent study, the authors noted that many behaviors children with ADHDexhibited were also behaviors seen among children with traumatic childhood experiences.

Knowing whether a child's behavior results from ADHD or an adverse childhood experience would affect how the child is treated.

So the researchers set out to determine what the overlap was between children with ADHD and children with adverse childhood experiences.

The study, led by Nicole Brown, MD, of The Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City, looked at the possible overlap of symptoms between ADHD and adverse childhood experiences.

The researchers analyzed data involving children aged 2 to 17 years old from the 2011 National Survey of Children's Health.

They compared the symptoms and treatment of children with ADHD to those of children who experienced any of nine adverse childhood experiences. Those adverse childhood experiences included:

• poverty
• divorce
• death of a parent/guardian
• domestic violence
• neighborhood violence
• substance abuse
• incarceration
• familial mental illness
• discrimination

Among a total of 85,637 children, the researchers identified 7.9 percent (6,758 kids) who were diagnosed with ADHD.

Among those with ADHD, 43 percent of the children had experienced at least two of the adverse childhood experiences, compared to 20 percent of children without ADHD.

http://www.dailyrx.com/adhd-and-adverse-childhood-experiences-share-similar-symptoms