Dr. Jeff's and Dr. Tanya's Blog: Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: Children

Does the Lack of an Adequate Nap Time Increase the Risk of Hyperactivity, Depression And Anxiety In Young Children?

Mental health professionals have long wondered about the relationship between napping and mental health in young children. An article published in Medical News Today June 11, 2009, “Discovery Of Relationship Between Napping, Hyperactivity, Depression And Anxiety In Young Children,” examines this issue. The article reports on a research abstract presented on Monday, June 8 at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. The researchers studied, “….62 children between the ages of 4 and 5 who were classified as either napping (77 percent) or non-napping (23 percent) based on actigraphy data. Napping children napped an average of 3.4 days per week. Of the sample, 55 percent were white-non Hispanic and 53 percent were male. Caretakers reported their child's typical weekday and weekend bedtime/rise time, napping patterns, family demographics, and completed a behavioral assessment of the child. Actigraphy data for each child was collected continuously for seven to 14 days.” The results of this study were interesting. “..children between the ages of 4 and 5 who did not take daytime naps were reported by their parents to exhibit higher levels of hyperactivity, anxiety and depression than children who continued to nap at this age.” There are several important implications of this study. First, parents of young children show insure that their young children get adequate daily naps. Second, day care providers and preschool teachers should confer with parents of any child in their care that is showing signs hyperactivity, anxiety, and depression in order to insure that the child is getting adequate nap time. Third, mental health professionals who treat young children who are hyperactive, depressed, and anxious should screen for whether the child receivership adequate napping time during the day. Fourth, public health professionals should be more aggressive in educating parents of young children about the mental health risks of inadequate nap time. The researchers conclude that, “…there is a lot of individual variability in when children are ready to give up naps. I would encourage parents to include a quiet 'rest' time in their daily schedule that would allow children to nap if necessary."

The Bottom Line: The results of this study strongly suggest that inadequate nap time in young children puts them at risk for hyperactivity, depression, and anxiety.

Reference: Original article

Additional Sources of Information:

Check out The Parent's Guide to Understanding Adolescent Depression authored by Dr. Jeff and Dr. Tanya and now available in a great informational website hosted by Squidoo.com. Below is a sneak preview of the website's Table of Contents:

Great Youtube Videos on Tips on How To Maintain Your Mental Health and Adolescent Depression:

Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:

Sources: See blogposts in Psychiatric Disorders: General and Psychiatric Disorders: Depression, Youtube

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Dr. Jeffrey Speller

Dr. Tanya Korkosz

Psychopharmacology Associates of New England

www.psychopharmassociates.com

Posted by Dr. Jeff and Dr. Tanya on January 10, 2010 at 07:03 AM in Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: Children, Psychiatric Disorders: Depression, Psychiatry: General | Permalink | Comments (0)

Can ADHD Medication Treatment Improve Academic Performance in Children?

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who take medication to treat the condition tend to do better in math and reading compared to their peers who also have ADHD but do not take medication, according to data from a national survey. The NIMH-funded study was published in the May 2009 issue of Pediatrics.

Background

ADHD, which is characterized by poor concentration, distractibility, hyperactivity, impulsivity and other symptoms, can adversely affect a child's academic performance. Compared to their peers without the disorder, children with ADHD tend to have lower grades, lower math and reading scores, and are more likely to repeat a year or drop out of school.

Richard Scheffler, Ph.D., of the University of California Berkeley, and colleagues analyzed a sample of 594 children diagnosed with ADHD who were part of the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, a U.S. Department of Education survey. The children were surveyed for various issues five times between kindergarten and fifth grade. The researchers focused on the children's math and reading scores to determine if medication use for ADHD was associated with academic achievement during elementary school.

Results of the Study

The study found that students with ADHD who took medication had math scores that were on average 2.9 points higher and reading scores on average 5.4 points higher than their unmedicated peers with ADHD. This equated to gains that were equivalent to the progress typically made in one-fifth of a school year in math, and one-third of a school year in reading. Improvements in reading, however, were seen only in students who had been taking medication for at least two rounds of the survey. The authors suggest that the different findings between math and reading scores may point to underlying differences in the process of learning.

Significance

The findings echo previous studies that have found that use of ADHD medication can improve children's attention and memory skills, which can help them do better in school. In addition, the improvement is notable because early academic success often predicts later school progress, said the researchers. However, they caution that the gains are not enough to eliminate the achievement gap typically seen between children with ADHD and those without the disorder.

What's Next

The findings support the need for long-term studies designed to better understand the relationship between medication use and academic achievement in children with ADHD. The authors also conclude by noting that more research is needed on combining medication with behavioral interventions to improve the school performance of children with ADHD.

Reference

Scheffler RM, Brown TT, Fulton BD, Hinshaw SP, Levine P, Stone S. Positive association between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication use and academic achievement during elementary school. Pediatrics. 2009 May. 123(5): 1273-1279.

Additional Sources of Information:

Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:

Sources: National Institute of Mental Health, Also see blogposts in Psychiatric Disorders: General and ADHD Children

Additional Resources:

For related articles on the Web, click on: “Sphere: Related Content” located at the bottom of this blog post.
For related books or blog posts with related content in Dr. Jeff’s and Dr. Tanya’s Blog type in the keywords into “Google Search” located in the sidebar.
For more books with related content, type in the keywords into “Amazon Search” on the Amazon banner located in the side bar.

Dr. Jeffrey Speller

Dr. Tanya Korkosz

Psychopharmacology Associates of New England

www.psychopharmassociates.com

Posted by Dr. Jeff and Dr. Tanya on June 17, 2009 at 06:56 AM in Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: Children | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is Short-term Intensive Treatment Helpful in ADHD Children?

Initial positive results gleaned from intensive treatment of childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are unlikely to be sustained over the long term, according to a recent analysis of data from the NIMH-funded Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA). The study was published online ahead of print March 2009 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Background

The MTA was the first major multi-site trial comparing different treatments for ADHD in childhood. The initial results of the 14-month study, in which 579 children were randomly assigned to one of three intensive treatment groups (medication alone, psychosocial/behavioral treatment alone, a combination of both) or to routine community care were published in 1999. The researchers found that the intensive medication management alone or in combination with the behavioral therapy produced better symptomatic relief for children with ADHD than just behavioral therapy or usual community care. Children who received the combination treatment fared best in other areas of functioning such as social skills and parent-child relations. About half of the initial benefits of the intensive medication management and combination treatments dissipated by the first follow-up, which was two years after the trial began.

A follow-up study published in August 2007 found that, although most children had maintained improvement three years after the trial began, the initial advantages of intensive medication management alone or in combination with behavioral treatment had waned. The most recent analysis by Brooke Molina Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues aimed to characterize the long-term functioning of the children eight years after they were enrolled in the trial.

Results of the Study

Using reports from parents and teachers as well as self-reports from the children, now high school-aged, the researchers found that the youth’s functioning remained improved overall compared to their functioning at the beginning of the study, suggesting that available treatments can still be effective. However, they also found the following:

The eight-year follow-up revealed no differences in symptoms or functioning among the youths assigned to the different treatment groups as children. This result suggests that the type or intensity of a one-year treatment for ADHD in childhood does not predict future functioning.
Youths with ADHD still had significantly more academic and social problems compared with peers who did not have ADHD. They also had more conduct problems including run-ins with police, as well as more depression, and psychiatric hospitalizations.
Some differences emerged among the youths with ADHD. For example, youths who had responded well to treatment and maintained their gains for two more years after the end of the trial tended to be functioning the best at eight years.
A majority (61.5 percent) of the children who were medicated at the end of the 14-month trial had stopped taking medication by the eight-year follow-up, suggesting that medication treatment may lose appeal with families over time. The reasons for this decline are under investigation, but they nevertheless signal the need for alternative treatments.
Children who were no longer taking medication at the eight-year follow-up were generally functioning as well as children who were still medicated, raising questions about whether medication treatment beyond two years continues to be beneficial or needed by all.

Significance

The researchers suggest that maintaining a good treatment response probably requires a sustained effort that takes into account long-term academic and behavioral problems commonly associated with ADHD and adapts to the demands of adolescence. Medication may continue to be helpful for some teenagers, but their needs should be re-evaluated periodically. The researchers also speculate that a child’s initial clinical presentation, including ADHD symptom severity, behavior problems, social skills and family resources, may predict how they will function as teens more so than the type of treatment they received.

What’s Next

The researchers acknowledge a crucial need for treatments that are more sustainable over the long run and accessible and effective among adolescents. Future studies could test the benefits of periodic treatments throughout a child’s development that adapt to the changing needs of teens with ADHD.

Reference

Molina BSG, Hinshaw SP, Swanson JM, Arnold LE, Vitiello B, Jensen PS, Epstein JN, Hoza B, Hechtman L, Abikoff HB, Elliott GR, Greenhill LL, Newcorn JH, Wells KC, Wigal T, Severe JB, Gibbons RD, Hur K, Houck PR, and the MTA Cooperative Group. The MTA at 8 years: Prospective follow-up of children treated for combined type ADHD in the multisite study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Online ahead of print March 2009.

Source: National Institute of Mental Health

Additional Resources:

Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:

Dr. Jeffrey Speller

Dr. Tanya Korkosz

Psychopharmacology Associates of New England

www.psychopharmassociates.com

Posted by Dr. Jeff and Dr. Tanya on April 09, 2009 at 09:42 AM in Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: Children | Permalink | Comments (0)

Can ADHD Children Improve with Relaxation Techniques?

Mental health professional have long debated about whether relaxation techniques can help children with ADHD. An article published in Medical News Today, December 30, 2008, examines this issue. The article reports on a study published December 2008 in the peer-reviewed online journal Current Issues in Education. The study "....was conducted in a private K-12 school for children with language-based learning disabilities. Participation was restricted to 10 students, ages 11-14, who had pre-existing diagnoses of ADHD. About half of the students were on medication. The students meditated at school in a group for 10 minutes, morning and afternoon...To determine the influence of the TM technique, at the beginning and end of the three-month period, parents, teachers and students completed standard ADHD assessment inventories measuring stress and anxiety, behavior and social competency, and executive function. Students were also given a battery of performance tests to measure cognitive functioning." The results of the study were very interesting. "....[in] middle school students with ADHD who were meditating twice a day in school...researchers found over 50 percent reduction in stress and anxiety and improvements in ADHD symptoms...The children also showed improvements in attention, working memory, organization, and behavior regulation....after the in-school meditation routine began, teachers reported they were able to teach more, and students were able to learn more because they were less stressed and anxious." A second study of TM and ADHD children also showed positive improvements in ADHD. "A second, recently completed TM-ADHD study with a control group measured brain function using electroencephalography (EEG). Preliminary data shows that three months practice of the technique resulted in significant positive changes in brain functioning during visual-motor skills. Changes were specifically seen in the circuitry of the brain associated with attention and distractibility. After six months TM practice, measurements of distractibility moved into the normal range." The implications of these two studies are quite significant. First, parents of children who have ADHD should give serious consideration to adding TM to their children's treatment plan. As this study shows, even in children who are already receiving medication for their ADHD can still gain significant benefit from TM. Second, child psychiatrists and pediatricians who routinely prescribe medication for the ADHD child patients, should encourage parents to try TM in their children. Third, parents of ADHD chidlren should definitely speak to the health care treatment providers of their ADHD children to determine if their child is a candidate for TM as an adjunctive treatment ffor their child. And, fourth, public health professionals should increase public education and awareness efforts to educate parents about the benefits of TM as a possible treatment for ADHD in children.

Resources:

Thirteen Great Books on ADHD

Resource and Support Groups for ADHD

Additional Resources:

Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:

Additional Resources:

For related articles on ADHD on the Web, click on: “Sphere: Related Content” located at the bottom of this blog post.
For related books or blog posts with related content in Dr. Jeff’s and Dr. Tanya’s Blog, go to “Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: General” or type in the keyword “ADHD and Children” into “Google Search” located in the sidebar.
For more books with related content, click any hyperlinked keyword in the blog or type in the keyword, “ADHD and Children” into “Amazon Search” on the Amazon banner located in the side bar.

How to Understand the Treatment of ADHD in Children. Watch this top rated video from Yourtube:

Sources: Orginal article, See also blogposts in: Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: General and Children, Youtube

Dr. Jeffrey Speller

Dr. Tanya Korkosz

Psychopharmacology Associates of New England

www.psychopharmassociates.com

Posted by Dr. Jeff and Dr. Tanya on April 06, 2009 at 05:43 AM in Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: Children | Permalink | Comments (0)

Can ADHD Children Improve by Spending More Time Outdoors?

Mental health professional have long debated about what helps children with ADHD. An article published in Medical News Today, October 16, 2008, examines this issue. The article reports on a study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Attention Disorders. The researchers "...conducted a study in which [the researchers] took children on walks in three different settings - one especially "green" and two less "green" - and kept everything about the walks as similar as possible...Some children took the "green" walk first; others took it second or last. After each walk, an experimenter who didn't know which walk the child had been on tested their attention using a standard neurocognitive test called Digit Span Backwards, in which a series of numbers are said aloud and the child recites them backwards. It's a test in which practice doesn't improve your score." The results of this study were interesting. The researchers"...compared each child's performance to their own performance on different walks...And when [the researchers] compared the scores for the walks in different environments, [they] found that after the walk in the park children generally concentrated better than they did after a walk in the downtown area or the neighborhood area. The greenest space was best at improving attention after exposure." The implications of this study are significant. First, the study confirms that nature matters in the treatment of ADHD in children. The researchers note that "...the physical environment matters...[the researchers didn't] ...know what it is about the park, exactly - the greenness or lack of buildings - that seems to improve attention, but the study [shows]... that even though everything else was the same - who the child was with, the levels of noise, the length of time, the time of day, whether the child was on medication..If [the researchers] kept everything else the same and...just changed the environment, [the researchers] still saw a measurable difference in children's symptoms." Second, mental health professionals who treat ADHD children show consider introducing nature walks as part of the treatment. And, third, parents of ADHD children spend more time with their children in a natural setting. In conclusion, one of the researchers notes that "...it would be easy to add a dose of nature to a child's routine...I could imagine parents hearing about this research and immediately applying it - just trying it out - taking their child to the park either when their child's symptoms are exacerbated or as a regular routine. It's not that hard to incorporate, especially if they have a green backyard or if they can get to a neighborhood park. Again, we can't say for sure that it would work for any given child - but there's probably very little risk involved in encouraging your child to play outdoors and seeing if their symptoms improve."

The Bottom Line: The results of this study strongly suggest that a walk in nature can decrease the symptoms of ADHD in children.

Resources:

Thirteen Great Books on ADHD

Resource and Support Groups for ADHD

Resources:

Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:

Additional Resources:

For related articles on ADHD on the Web, click on: “Sphere: Related Content” located at the bottom of this blog post.
For related books or blog posts with related content in Dr. Jeff’s and Dr. Tanya’s Blog, go to “Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: General” or type in the keyword “ADHD and Children” into “Google Search” located in the sidebar.
For more books with related content, click any hyperlinked keyword in the blog or type in the keyword, “ADHD and Children” into “Amazon Search” on the Amazon banner located in the side bar.

How to Understand the Treatment of ADHD in Children. Watch this top rated video from Yourtube:

Sources: Original Article, See also blogposts in: Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: General and Children, Youtube

Dr. Jeffrey Speller

Dr. Tanya Korkosz

Psychopharmacology Associates of New England

www.psychopharmassociates.com

Posted by Dr. Jeff and Dr. Tanya on April 06, 2009 at 05:41 AM in Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: Children | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: Children

Does the Lack of an Adequate Nap Time Increase the Risk of Hyperactivity, Depression And Anxiety In Young Children?

Can ADHD Medication Treatment Improve Academic Performance in Children?

Background

Results of the Study

Significance

What's Next

Reference

Is Short-term Intensive Treatment Helpful in ADHD Children?

Background

Results of the Study

Significance

What’s Next

Reference

Can ADHD Children Improve with Relaxation Techniques?

Can ADHD Children Improve by Spending More Time Outdoors?

This psychiatry weblog, authored by two Harvard University-trained psychiatrists and former lecturers at Harvard Medical School, offers you psychiatric news and commentary about brain disorders, mental dysfunction, psychological illness, and mental health wellness.

Newsletter

cc

Answers.com

Poll

Blogged Rating

Google

Recent Posts

Twitter Updates

Ezine

Youtube Video

Google Search

Tip Jar

Pages

Extreme Tracking

Google Analytics

Psychiatric Disorders: ADHD: Children

Background

Results of the Study

Significance

What's Next

Reference

Background

Results of the Study

Significance

What’s Next

Reference