Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Children born to mothers with anxiety during pregnancy and a few years after birth were more likely to have hyperactivity when they were 16 years old, according to study findings presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress.

Methylphenidate — a drug used to treat ADHD — may affect specific tracts in brain white matter in boys with the disorder, according to findings from a randomized control trial conducted in the Netherlands. The results published in Radiology suggest that the effects are age dependent.

Researchers found overlap between ADHD and hypomanic symptoms across childhood and adolescence, which appears to reflect a genetic link between these phenotypes, according to findings from a Swedish twin cohort study published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Longitudinal data revealed that individuals with ADHD were at higher risk for all-cause and cause-specific premature death, which may increase depending on the number of psychiatric comorbidities.