April 4, 2022
What are we to make of adults who exhibit the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, but are nevertheless high-functioning and successful? A trio of British investigators has just published six case studies that explore this question. It would have been better for them to have conducted a much larger, controlled research study but, in the absence of such data in the area, these case studies are intriguing and may help guide more informative research.
The authors recruited six successful men between the ages of 30 and 65 from a National Health Service tertiary service in London. Four were in long-term relationships, with children. All had good jobs.
In open-ended taped interviews of up to an hour in length, each was asked three questions:
1. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of having ADHD?
2. Please describe a time when you felt that your ADHD helped you to achieve something?
3. What aspects of your ADHD would you miss if it went away?
Hyper-focus in ADHD is generally considered a deficit, inset-shifting, and task-switching. But the authors report that participants associated it with productivity. One said, “I think the energy that the ADHD brain seems to have....it’s unfocused, quite scattered, chaotic and a bit random...but give that brain something that you can tune into, and it’s your interest, then all that random stuff just goes boom... I get this incredible intense concentration and that’s great for work.”
Participants also saw advantages in divergent thinking, with one stating, “I’m an artist.... a creative type... a Bohemian.... you are most likely to be a creative person if you are a divergent thinker....and not convergent... I am very creative and that’s through and through... I’m a fine art graduate, a musician, a published poet, an entrepreneur, a performer.”
All the participants reported being seen as nonconformists. Depending on a viewpoint, that can be seen as either detrimental or advantageous.
Impulsivity is a core symptom of ADHD. Participants however related it to bravery, and more specifically adventurousness, spontaneity, and thrill-seeking. One said, “thrill-seeking is an ADHD thing... I can list in my life have done white water rafting, bungee jumping, hand-glider pilot … I have done a lot in my life and achieved a lot and experienced a lot... Furthermore, I would see a lot of that as being quite positive, and a lot of that is ADHD drive.”
Another common theme was high energy and “spirit.” One participant said, “I’ve got all this energy.... a lot of energy... whatever it's to do with... nature/nurture/spiritual stuff.”
These testimonials are useful as a check on the usual narrative of impairment. ADHD does not predestine all it afflicts to an unfulfilling life. Many, often assisted by medication, still lead exciting, successful, rewarding lives. Yet, we must be cautious in concluding that these individuals were successful because of their ADHD. It is possible, even likely, that they had other strengths such as high intelligence that compensated for their ADHD symptoms. We can not know from this report if their lives had been even more fulfilling or successful in the absence of ADHD. See, for example, my blog about highly intelligent people with ADHD: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141126141502-65669938-smart-people-can-have-adhd-too/.
While the authors concede that “generalizing the findings of this study is not easy to do,” they inexplicably “also argue that the positive aspects we found are relevant to other adults with ADHD regardless of sample size, age, gender or ethnicity.” It is not possible to draw such a definitive conclusion without a much larger sample.
On a hopeful note, they conclude, “This is a study that reaches out to people with lived experience of ADHD: service users, patients, family members, carers, partners, to say that not all symptoms of ADHD are maleficent. Recovery, high functionality, and flourishing with ADHD are possible. Too often people with lived experience hear about ADHD deficits, functional impairments, and associations with substance misuse, criminality, or other disadvantages on almost every level of life (school, work, relationships). … This study affirms the positive human qualities, assets, and attributes in ADHD that can promote and sustain high functioning and flourishing.” I fully endorse the idea that those with ADHD can have wonderful lives, especially if they receive appropriate treatment, both medical and psychological.
Jane Ann Sedgwick, Andrew Merwood, Philip Asherson, “The positive aspects of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a qualitative investigation of successful adults with ADHD,” ADHD Attention Deficit and hyperactivity Disorders (2018), doi.org/10.1007/s12402-018-0277-6.
Antshel, K. M., Faraone, S. V., Maglione, K., Doyle, A. E., Fried, R., Seidman, L. J. & Biederman, J. (2010). Executive functioning in high-IQ adults with ADHD. Psychol Med 40, 1909-18.
Rommelse, N., Antshel, K., Smeets, S., Greven, C.,Hoogeveen, L., Faraone, S. V. & Hartman, C. A. (2017). High intelligenceand the risk of ADHD and other psychopathology. Br J Psychiatry.
Rommelse, N., van der Kruijs, M., Damhuis, J., Hoek,I., Smeets, S., Antshel, K. M., Hoogeveen, L. & Faraone, S. V. (2016). Anevidenced-based perspective on the validity of attention-deficit/hyperactivitydisorder in the context of high intelligence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 71, 21-47.
Background:
Noting that “Previous research has demonstrated that attention significantly influences various domains such as language, literacy, and mathematics, making it a crucial determinant of academic achievement,” an international study team performed a comprehensive search of the peer-reviewed medical literature for studies evaluating effects of physical activity on attention.
The Study:
The team’s meta-analysis of ten studies with a combined total of 474 participants found moderate reductions in attention problems following physical activity. They found no significant evidence of publication bias, but there was considerable variation in outcomes between studies (heterogeneity).
To tease out the reasons for this variability, the team looked at specific attributes of the physical activity regimens used in the studies.
The seven studies with 168 participants that involved mentally engaging physical activity reported large reductions in attention problems, whereas the three studies with 306 persons that used aerobic exercise found no reduction whatsoever. Heterogeneity in the former was reduced, in the latter all but disappearing.
Comparing studies with other interventions as control groups (6 studies, 393 participants) with those with no intervention as control (4 studies, 81 participants), the former reported only small improvements in attention problems, while the latter reported large improvements.
Duration of physical activity made little difference. The four studies with physical activity of an hour or more reported better outcomes than the six with less than an hour, but the difference was not significant.
Greater frequency did make a difference, but in a counterintuitive way. The seven studies with one or two physical activity interventions per week (162 participants) reported large reductions in attention problems, whereas the three studies with three or more interventions per week (312 participants) showed no improvement.
Conclusion:
The authors concluded, “Our study suggests that cognitively engaging exercise is more effective in improving attention problems in school-aged children with ADHD.” Moreover, “the benefits of improved attention in school-age children with ADHD are not necessarily positively correlated with higher frequency and longer duration of physical activity.” Also keep in mind that exercise, while important for all children, should not replace medical and psychological treatments for the disorder.
The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The NHIS is done primarily through face-to-face computer-assisted interviews in the homes of respondents. But telephone interviews are substituted on request, or where travel distances make in-home visits impractical.
For each interviewed family, only one sample child is randomly selected by a computer program.
The total number of households with a child or adolescent aged 3-17 for the years 2018 through 2021 was 26,422.
Based on responses from family members, 9.5% of the children and adolescents randomly surveyed throughout the United States had ADHD.
This proportion varied significantly based on age, rising from 1.5% for ages 3-5 to 9.6% for ages 6-11 and to 13.4% for ages 12-17.
There was an almost two-to-one gap between the 12.4% prevalence among males and the 6.6% prevalence among females.
There was significant variation by race/ethnicity. While rates among non-Hispanic whites (11.1%) and non-Hispanic blacks (10.5%) did not differ significantly, these two groups differed significantly from Hispanics (7.2%) and Others (6.6%).
There were no significant variations in ADHD prevalence based on highest education level of family members.
But family income had a significant relationship with ADHD prevalence, especially at lower incomes. For family incomes under the poverty line, the prevalence was 12.7%. That dropped to 10.3% for family incomes above the poverty level but less than twice that level. For all others it dropped further to about 8.5%. Although that might seem like poverty causes ADHD, we cannot draw that conclusion. Other data indicate that adults with ADHD have lower incomes. That would lead to more ADHD in kids from lower income families.
There was also significant geographic variation in reported prevalence rates. It was highest in the South, at 11.3%, then the Midwest at 10%, the Northeast at 9.1%, with a jump down to 6.9% in the West.
Overall ADHD prevalence did not vary significantly by year over the four years covered by this study.
This study highlights a consistently high prevalence of developmental disabilities among U.S. children and adolescents, with notable increases in other developmental delays and co-occurring learning and intellectual disabilities from 2018 to 2021. While the overall prevalence remained stable, these findings emphasize the need for continued research into potential risk factors and targeted interventions to address developmental challenges in youth.
It is also important to note that this study assessed the prevalence of ADHD being diagnosed by healthcare professionals. Due to variations in healthcare accessibility across the country, the true prevalence of ADHD may differ still.
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Background:
An international research team used the nationally representative 2020–2021 U.S. Survey of Children’s Health to explore associations between ADHD, weeknight sleep insufficiency, and bedtime irregularity.
"Sleep sufficiency" refers to the recommended amount of sleep for an individual. Sleep recommendations vary by age and other factors, such as health and lifestyle. For example, 7-9 hours is typically considered sufficient sleep for most adults, but an active teen may require closer to 10 hours of sleep per day.
Previous studies have shown that issues with both falling and staying asleep are common in individuals with ADHD.
The Study:
The team matched 7,671 children and adolescents with ADHD aged 3-17 to 51,572 controls.
Noting that “The few available population-based studies examining sleep in children with ADHD have focused on circumscribed age ranges, limiting generalizability across childhood, and have seldom included controls,” and “bedtime irregularity has received limited empirical attention in children with ADHD,” this study focused on these aspects of sleep impairment.
The study group excluded children and adolescents with ADHD with Down syndrome, current or lifetime cerebral palsy, and current or lifetime intellectual disability. In the control group, it excluded individuals with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, speech and language disorder, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, anxiety, depression, behavioral or conduct problems, Tourette syndrome, and use of mental health services in the preceding 12 months. These groups were excluded to limit potential confounding factors.
After adjustment for covariates, parents of children and adolescents with ADHD reported weekday sleep insufficiency 65% more frequently than parents of controls.
However, when comparing matched controls with children and adolescents with ADHD who were being treated with ADHD medication, there was no significant difference.
Similarly, there was a small but significant effect size increase in bedtime irregularity among children and adolescents with ADHD relative to their matched controls.
Yet there was also a small but significant effect size decrease in bedtime irregularity among those taking medication for ADHD relative to those who were unmedicated.
The team noted, “Interestingly, here, ADHD medication use was linked to less bedtime irregularity across full and age-stratified samples, and not related to sleep insufficiency. However, research indicates the association between stimulant use and sleep problems is attenuated with longer duration of use, and also suggests the potential for stimulants to produce positive effects on sleep through reduced bedtime resistance. Further, ADHD medication type, not specified, may have influenced outcomes.”
The Take-Away:
The study concluded that ADHD in children was linked to insufficient sleep and irregular bedtimes in a nationally representative sample, reinforcing and expanding previous research. The findings emphasize the influence of various factors on sleep insufficiency and bedtime irregularity, including race, screen time, poverty, ADHD severity, and depression.
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