ADD/ADHD News

Transgender and gender-nonconforming children and adolescents experienced higher levels of mental health conditions when compared with matched reference groups, according to study results published in Pediatrics.

A pediatric primary care program that promoted reading out loud and playing with children aged 0 to 5 years resulted in a reduction of hyperactivity and attention problems at the age when the children started school, according to study results published in Pediatrics.

Researchers observed differing patterns of methylphenidate use across age groups in France, including long-term use in children, use for medical conditions other than ADHD and narcolepsy in adults and drug abuse/misuse behaviors.

The number of reproductive-aged women who filled at least one prescription for an ADHD medication increased 344% between 2003 and 2015, according to a recent CDC study published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

A newly redesigned national survey indicates that the estimated prevalence of ADHD diagnosis does not appear to have increased in the time since previous nationally representative estimates were published.

Self-harm risk factors in children, including a history of depression, mental health conditions other than depression and ADHD, do not affect their caretaker’s decision to have firearms in the household nor the use of proper firearm storage, according to a study published in Pediatrics.

More children in the U.S. were being treated for ADHD in 2011 compared with 2007, according to the most recent data from the CDC, with the percentage of children aged 4 to 17 years taking an ADHD medication increasing from 4.8% in 2007 to 6.1% in 2011.

After comparing prescribing rates of stimulant, antidepressant and antipsychotic medications for children and young adults with prevalence rates of ADHD, depression and anxiety, researchers found that psychiatric medications are not actually overprescribed to youth, contrary to popular beliefs, according to study results.

Adolescents and young adults with ADHD were at higher risk for STIs later in life compared with those without the disorder; however, ADHD medications may reduce this risk, by as much as 41% in men, according to researchers in Taiwan.

Intrauterine exposure to methylphenidate during pregnancy was associated with a small increase in the risk for cardiac malformations; however, this association was not seen with amphetamines, according to data published in JAMA Psychiatry.