Among all children 2-17 years of age with ADHD, researchers also found: 6 out of 10 (62%) were taking medication for their ADHD, and represent 1 out of 20 of all U.S. children; Just under half (47%) received any behavioral treatment for their ADHD in the past year.
How many children with ADHD receive behavioral treatment?
· Among all children 2-17 years of age with ADHD, researchers also found: 6 out of 10 (62%) were taking medication for their ADHD, and represent 1 out of 20 of all U.S. children; Just under half (47%) received any behavioral treatment for their ADHD in the past year.
How many children are diagnosed with ADHD each year?
ADHD lasts into adulthood for at least one-third of children with ADHD 1. Treatments for adults can include medication, psychotherapy, education or training, or a combination of treatments. For more information about diagnosis and treatment throughout the lifespan, please visit the websites of the National Resource Center on ADHD
What are the treatments for adult ADHD?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 1 is a neurodevelopmental disorder with prevalence rates in school-aged children of about 5% worldwide 2 and 7–9% in the United States 3. Primary Care providers (PCPs), including pediatricians, family medicine and other physicians, nurse practitioners and mid-level professionals are increasingly, screening and treating ADHD..
What is the rate of incidence for ADHD?
Figure 2 is based on data from the NSCH and shows medication use among children with ADHD in 2011. An estimated 69.3% of children with a current diagnosis of ADHD received medication for ADHD. Medication use increased 4% overall from 2007 to 2011, particularly among male teens. 1.
How many people are receiving treatment for ADHD?
About 3 in 4 US children with current ADHD receive treatment Altogether, 77% were receiving treatment. Of these children: About 30% were treated with medication alone. About 15% received behavioral treatment alone.
How many adolescents ADHD?
5.1 million children (8.8% or 1 in 11 of this age group 4–17 years) have a current diagnosis of ADHD: 6.8% of children ages 4–10 (1 in 15) 11.4% of children ages 11–14 (1 in 9) 10.2% of children ages 15–17 (1 in 10)
What percentage of children are helped by ADHD medications?
July 20, 2010 -- More than 80% of children who are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder take prescription medications at some point to treat their symptoms, according to a new nationwide survey of parents by Consumer Reports Health.
How is ADHD treatment in adolescent?
Usually, a combination of medication and behavior therapy is best in treating teens with ADHD. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry all recommend behavior therapy to improve behavior problems that are a part of ADHD.
How common is ADHD 2020?
By adjusting for the global demographic structure in 2020, the prevalence of persistent adult ADHD was 2.58% and that of symptomatic adult ADHD was 6.76%, translating to 139.84 million and 366.33 million affected adults in 2020 globally.
What percentage of the population has ADHD?
Based on diagnostic interview data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), Figure 4 shows the estimated prevalence of adults aged 18 to 44 years with a current diagnosis of ADHD. The overall prevalence of current adult ADHD is 4.4%.
What is the prevalence of ADHD medication use in modern day society?
6 out of 10 (62%) were taking medication for their ADHD, and represent 1 out of 20 of all U.S. children; Just under half (47%) received any behavioral treatment for their ADHD in the past year. Among the youngest children (2-5 years of age), the number increased to over half (60%);
How many people have ADHD 2019?
ADHD Prevalence in Adults One 2019 study estimates an adult ADHD prevalence of 0.96 percent – doubling from 0.43 percent a decade prior. Prior studies have placed adult ADHD prevalence rates in the U.S. between 2.5 percent1 and 4.4 percent8, with a 5.4 percent diagnosis rate in men compared to 3.2 percent in women.
How effective is behavioral therapy for ADHD?
Behavior therapy is an effective treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that can improve a child's behavior, self-control, and self-esteem. It is most effective in young children when it is delivered by parents.
Can a 17 year old be diagnosed with ADHD?
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It's been diagnosed in over 3.3 million people between the ages of 12 and 17, according to a 2016 survey. You may have noticed a few symptoms in younger children, but the average age at diagnosis is 7.
My Child Has been Diagnosed With Adhd – Now What?
When their child is diagnosed with ADHD, parents often have concerns about deciding the best way to help their child. It is important for parents t...
Behavior Therapy, Including Training For Parents
Research shows that behavior therapy is an important part of treatment for children with ADHD. ADHD affects not only a child’s ability to pay atten...
Parent Education and Support
CDC funds the National Resource Center on ADHD (NRC), a program of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) The NR...
What Every Parent Should Know…
Children with ADHD might be eligible for special services or accommodations at school under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDE...
How many children in the US have ADHD?
CDC scientists found that, as of 2016, 6.1 million children aged 2-17 years living in the U.S. had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is similar to previous estimates.
Do rural areas have ADHD?
Researchers also found that children living in rural areas were more likely to have been diagnosed with ADHD and less likely to receive behavioral treatment in the past year compared with children living in urban or suburban areas.
How old do you have to be to get ADHD treatment?
Treatment recommendations for ADHD. For children with ADHD younger than 6 years of age, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends parent training in behavior management as the first line of treatment, before medication is tried. For children 6 years of age and older, the recommendations include medication and behavior therapy together — ...
What are the best ways to treat ADHD?
To find the best options, it is recommended that parents work closely with others involved in their child’s life —healthcare providers, therapists, teachers, coaches, and other family members. Types of treatment for ADHD include. Behavior therapy, including training for parents; and. Medications.
How to help ADHD kids with homework?
Manage distractions. Turn off the TV, limit noise, and provide a clean workspace when your child is doing homework. Some children with ADHD learn well if they are moving or listening to background music. Watch your child and see what works.
What is the best medication for ADHD?
external icon. : Stimulants are the best-known and most widely used ADHD medications. Between 70-80% of children with ADHD have fewer ADHD symptoms when taking these fast-acting medications. Nonstimulants were approved for the treatment of ADHD in 2003.
Does behavior management help with ADHD?
Parent training in behavior management has been shown to work as well as medication for ADHD in young children. Young children have more side effects from ADHD medications than older children. The long-term effects of ADHD medications on young children have not been well-studied. Overview for parents.
Why is behavior therapy important for ADHD?
For young children with ADHD, behavior therapy is an important first step before trying medication because: Parent training in behavior management gives parents the skills and strategies to help their child. Parent training in behavior management has been shown to work as well as medication for ADHD in young children.
What are the AAP recommendations?
Schools can be part of the treatment as well. AAP recommendations also include adding behavioral classroom intervention and school supports. Learn more about how the school environment can be part of treatment.
How old is the average person with ADHD?
More severe cases of ADHD in children, as described by parents, were diagnosed earlier. The median age of diagnosis for severe ADHD was 4 years. The median age of diagnosis for moderate ADHD was 6 years. The median age of diagnosis for mild ADHD was 7 years.
What is ADHD in childhood?
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and into adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity). Additional information about ADHD can be found on ...
How old are the participants in the ADHD case series?
Individuals eligible for the case series were adolescents aged 13 to 17 who met full criteria for ADHD as their principal diagnosis, and had been on stable medication for ADHD for at least 2 months. Clients were excluded if they had current major depression or panic disorder of at least moderate severity, bipolar or psychotic disorders, or developmental disabilities that might interfere with the patient's ability to assent to or participate in treatment. Three adolescent participants who assented to treatment and whose parents signed consent forms participated openly. These were the first three adolescents who presented for treatment based on study advertisements/recruitment procedures. One additional adolescent presented for treatment, but then decided not to participate because of scheduling difficulties. We treated these adolescents to pilot our approach in preparation for a randomized trial.
How many sessions are there in adult treatment?
The adult treatment includes 12 sessions that are divided into three core modules (organization/planning, distractibility, and cognitive restructuring), two optional modules (procrastination and involvement of a spouse/partner), and a 1-session relapse prevention module. We retained the structure and content of the adult protocol, but we adapted it for adolescents based on the clinical experience of the team and a review of the literature.
How often do alarms go off in adolescence?
In this module, adolescents are also taught cue-control procedures: participants are instructed to set alarms on cell phones, watches, or other devices to go off every 30 minutes. Whenever the alarm sounds, participants are instructed to ask themselves whether they have been distracted from the main task at hand, and, if so, to return to that task. Finally, this module teaches techniques for scheduling brief breaks and reducing external environmental distractions (e.g., internet, telephone).
How to adapt adult treatment protocol to adolescents?
Other modifications in adapting the adult treatment protocol to adolescents included changing the examples used in the protocol to be more relevant to adolescents. For example, instead of using an example about prioritizing work tasks, an example about prioritizing school homework assignments is used. Based on the clinical experience of the team, the number of sessions devoted to adaptive thinking was reduced from three to two and a coaching metaphor (Otto, 2000) was used instead of the more formal “thought record.” Finally, the protocol was changed to reflect the option of using technology (cell phones, laptops) to keep track of tasks and meetings/appointments.
How long is CBT therapy?
The treatment consists of 12 sessions of individual therapy, lasting approximately 50 minutes each. Missed sessions are rescheduled and made up in order to maximize the likelihood of each participant receiving all 12 sessions over a 20-week period of time. The intervention was informed by our CBT intervention work with adults and adolescents with ADHD over the past 12 years as detailed in our published therapist guide, patient manual, and clinical description article (Safren, Otto, Sprich, Perlman, Wilens and Biederman, 2005; Safren, Perlman, Sprich, & Otto, 2005; Safren, Sprich, et al., 2005; Sprich et al., 2010). Modules to foster behavioral change include providing psychoeducation, maximizing motivation with motivational interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2012), and CBT skills training components. These modules draw from both traditional cognitive-behavioral approaches as well as approaches used to foster behavioral change in substance abuse; in addition, the modules utilize interventions that target health behavior change where motivations may vary (e.g., Fisher, Fisher, Williams, & Malloy, 1994; Safren, Otto, & Worth, 1999). For example, we typically complete an exercise drawn from the motivational interviewing literature in which we ask the patient to articulate pros and cons for changing in the short term and the long term (Miller & Rollnick, 2012). In this exercise, the individual comes up with reasons why he or she would like to change in the long term and reasons why change is difficult in the short term. The therapist can then validate the difficulties involved in changing behavior but also remind the individual of his or her reasons why change would be desirable in the long term.
How does CBT help with ADHD?
Doing this at the time of adolescence can assist teenagers with the transition to greater independence as adults, when they will not have as much supervision from parents. Accordingly, in the approach, we balance the importance of involving parents with an understanding that, developmentally, adolescence is a time of greater independence. Hence, our intervention sought to help adolescents rely less on their parents and more on their own use of cognitive and behavioral skills (see Chronis et al., 2006). As such, in the current study, parental participation was limited to two full sessions where the focus was on goal setting and improving parent-adolescent communication and briefly at the end of the other treatment sessions to give parents an opportunity to ask questions and assist with generalization of skills.
Is psychopharmacotherapy effective for ADHD?
Although medications have been widely used as an effective treatment for many years in children, adolescents, and adults, psychopharmacotherapy is inadequate as a sole intervention for ADHD. Wilens et al. (2006), for example, in a study of 220 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18, reported that 52% of participants who received OROS (an osmotic technology system for controlled drug delivery) methylphenidate for adolescent ADHD were rated as “much improved” or “very much improved.” Although this is a promising outcome, this means that 48% were only minimally improved, the same, or worse. Further, average ratings on the ADHD symptom scale (ADHD RS) revealed that, generally, participants in the treatment group, including responders (those who were “much improved” or “very much improved”), still had significant residual symptoms postmedication treatment. Despite medication treatment, most adolescents continue to have residual symptoms, thus necessitating the need for evidence-based psychological treatments, in addition to medications, in order to provide comprehensive treatment (Chronis, Jones, & Raggi, 2006).
What is the prevalence of ADHD?
With a prevalence of over 5% , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most frequent disorders within child and adolescent psychiatry. Despite an overwhelming body of research, approximately 20,000 publications have been referenced in PubMed during the past 10 years, assessment and treatment continue to present a challenge for clinicians. ADHD is characterized by the heterogeneity of presentations, which may take opposite forms, by frequent and variable comorbidities and an overlap with other disorders, and by the context-dependency of symptoms, which may or may not become apparent during clinical examination. While the neurobiological and genetic underpinnings of the disorder are beyond dispute, biomarkers or other objective criteria, which could lead to an automatic algorithm for the reliable identification of ADHD in an individual within clinical practice, are still lacking. In contrast to what one might expect after years of intense research, ADHD criteria defined by nosological systems, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) and the International Classification of Diseases, editions 10 and 11 (ICD-10/11) have not become narrower and more specific. Rather, they have become broader, for example, encompassing wider age ranges, thus placing more emphasis on the specialist's expertise and experience. 123
What is ADHD in psychiatry?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most frequent disorders within child and adolescent psychiatry, with a prevalence of over 5%. Nosological systems, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) and the International Classification of Diseases, editions 10 and 11 (ICD-10/11) continue to define ADHD according to behavioral criteria, based on observation and on informant reports. Despite an overwhelming body of research on ADHD over the last 10 to 20 years, valid neurobiological markers or other objective criteria that may lead to unequivocal diagnostic classification are still lacking. On the contrary, the concept of ADHD seems to have become broader and more heterogeneous. Thus, the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD are still challenging for clinicians, necessitating increased reliance on their expertise and experience. The first part of this review presents an overview of the current definitions of the disorder (DSM-5, ICD-10/11). Furthermore, it discusses more controversial aspects of the construct of ADHD, including the dimensional versus categorical approach, alternative ADHD constructs, and aspects pertaining to epidemiology and prevalence. The second part focuses on comorbidities, on the difficulty of distinguishing between “primary” and “secondary” ADHD for purposes of differential diagnosis, and on clinical diagnostic procedures. In the third and most prominent part, an overview of current neurobiological concepts of ADHD is given, including neuropsychological and neurophysiological researches and summaries of current neuroimaging and genetic studies. Finally, treatment options are reviewed, including a discussion of multimodal, pharmacological, and nonpharmacological interventions and their evidence base.
What kind of doctor is needed for ADHD?
There is consensus that the diagnosis of ADHD requires a specialist, that is, a child psychiatrist, a pediatrician, or other appropriately qualified health care professionals with training and expertise in diagnosing ADHD. 97
Is emotional dysregulation a symptom of ADHD?
Emotion dysregulation is another associated feature that has been discussed as a possible core component of childhood ADHD, although it is not included in the DSM-5 criteria. Deficient emotion regulation is more typically part of the symptom definition of other psychopathological disorders, such as oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), CD, or disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DSM-5; for children up to 8 years). 11However, an estimated 50 to 75% of children with ADHD also present symptoms of emotion dysregulation, for example, anger, irritability, low tolerance for frustration, and outbursts, or sometimes express inappropriate positive emotions. The presence of these symptoms increases the risk for further comorbidities, such as ODD and also for anxiety disorders. 1213For adult ADHD, emotional irritability is a defining symptom according to the Wender Utah criteria, and has been confirmed as a primary ADHD symptom by several studies (e.g., Hirsch et al). 51415
What is the ICD-10 classification for ADHD?
In contrast, the ICD-10 classification distinguishes between hyperkinetic disorder of childhood (with at least six symptoms of inattention and six symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity, present before the age of 6 years) and hyperkinetic conduct disorder, a combination of ADHD symptoms and symptoms of oppositional defiant and conduct disorders (CD). 3In the ICD-11 (online release from June 2018, printed release expected 2022), the latter category has been dropped, as has the precise age limit (“onset during the developmental period, typically early to mid-childhood”). Moreover, the ICD-11 distinguishes five ADHD subcategories, which match those of the DSM-5: ADHD combined presentation, ADHD predominantly inattentive presentation, ADHD predominantly hyperactive/impulsive presentation and two residual categories, ADHD other specified and ADHD nonspecified presentation. For diagnosis, behavioral symptoms need to be outside the limits of normal variation expected for the individual's age and level of intellectual functioning. 2
Is ADHD a neurodevelopmental disorder?
ADHD is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder. Its diagnostic classification is based on the observation of behavioral symptoms. ADHD according to the DSM-5 continues to be a diagnosis of exclusion and should not be diagnosed if the behavioral symptoms can be better explained by other mental disorders (e.g., psychotic disorder, mood or anxiety disorder, personality disorder, substance intoxication, or withdrawal). 1However, comorbidity with other mental disorders is common.
Is subthreshold ADHD a dimensional disorder?
Recent research on subthreshold ADHD argues in favor of a dimensional rather than categorical understanding of the ADHD construct, as its core symptoms and comorbid features are dimensionally distributed in the population. 161718Subthreshold ADHD is common in the population, with an estimated prevalence of approximately 10%. 19According to Biederman and colleagues, clinically referred children with subthreshold ADHD symptoms show a similar amount of functional deficits and comorbid symptoms to those with full ADHD, but tend to come from higher social-class families with fewer family conflicts, to have fewer perinatal complications, and to be older and female (for the latter two, a confound with DSM-IV criteria cannot be excluded). 20
How many children have ADHD?
6.4 million children reported by parents to have ever received a health care provider diagnosis of ADHD , including: 1 in 5 high school boys. 1 in 11 high school girls. The percentage of US children 4-17 years of age with an ADHD diagnosis by a health care provider, as reported by parents, continues to increase.
How many children with ADHD were not receiving medication in 2011?
In 2011, as many as 17.5% of children with current ADHD were reported by their parents as not receiving either medication for ADHD or mental health counseling
What is the number for the National Resource Center for ADHD?
The National Resource Center operates a call center with trained, bilingual staff to answer questions about ADHD. Their phone number is 1-800-233-4050.
How many children were diagnosed with ADHD in 2011?
By 2011, 6.4 million children were reported by their parents to be diagnosed by a health professional with ADHD compared to 4.4 million in 2003. An estimated 1 million more children were reported by their parents to be taking medication for ADHD in 2011, compared to 2003.
How much does ADHD increase in a year?
Average annual increase was approximately 7% per year. The average age of ADHD diagnosis was 7 years of age, but children reported by their parents as having more severe ADHD were diagnosed earlier. 8 years of age was the average age of diagnosis for children reported as having mild ADHD.
What is the CDC website for ADHD?
Their web site ( http://www.help4adhd.org/NRC.aspx. external icon.
What is ADHD in children?
ADHD is a neurobehavioral disorder of childhood that often persists into adulthood. CDC uses national surveys that ask parents about their child’s health to monitor the number of children with ADHD and the treatment patterns for these children.
What percentage of teens with ADHD are smokers?
This also includes cigarette smoking – the transition from adolescence to adulthood is where we see a dramatic increase with about 70 percent of teens with ADHD identifying as smokers compared to less than 40 percent of teens without ADHD 2. Substances are deleterious to the developing adolescent brain.
How does ADHD affect teens?
In the adolescent years, this may mean explain increased risk for motor vehicle accidents, medication diversion, substance abuse, academic setbacks, and self-harm.
Does stimulant medication help with ADHD?
On a positive note, long-term, large-scale studies show that early stimulant treatment lowers the risk of cigarette smoking and substance use disorders in individuals with ADHD 7. While highly effective, stimulant medication misuse and diversion is also a problem for teens and young adults with ADHD.
What is the risk of a cigarette with ADHD?
ADHD is associated with greater risk of cigarette or nicotine vaping, recreational drug use and substance use disorders 6, particularly in those untreated for their ADHD. About one-half of young adults with ADHD report recreational drug use compared to just over 30 percent in the neurotypical group 2. This also includes cigarette smoking – the transition from adolescence to adulthood is where we see a dramatic increase with about 70 percent of teens with ADHD identifying as smokers compared to less than 40 percent of teens without ADHD 2.
Can ADHD be unreliable?
Adolescents with ADHD may also be unreliable sources for assessing their social functioning, giving themselves overly optimistic appraisals of their skills 3. To improve peer relationships, teens can join in person or on-line groups and activities that align with their interests and hobbies.
Is dropping out of high school higher with ADHD?
The risk of dropping out of high school is higher in those with ADHD compared to peers without ADHD 2, which has a strong influence over future income levels, hire-ability, and other realms.
How does ADHD affect teens in high school?
Teens with ADHD progressing through high school must navigate and tackle increasingly difficult workloads. There are more exams , more homework, a grueling and increasingly competitive college or trades application process, and more to keep track of generally compared to prior school years . Missed assignments and truancy, for example, may have serious consequences.
How effective are ADHD treatment programs?
Treatment development and evaluation research on school-based treatments for adolescents with ADHD has led the way in the development of psychosocial treatments for adolescents with ADHD. The two treatment programs reviewed in this manuscript (CHP & HOPS) have evidence suggesting that they are effective at improving multiple areas of impairment, but many questions remain. Given the findings related to dosage, the degree of impairment, and the chronic nature of the disorder; it seems unlikely that ten to twenty sessions of any treatment is going to be adequate to address the needs of adolescents with ADHD. Combining treatments and providing them for extended periods of time may be the best answer for many adolescents. Unfortunately, the research is far from adequate to inform school or clinic based practitioners or parents how to proceed. Due to the many years that professionals believed that children “grew out” of ADHD when they hit puberty, the development of treatment for adolescents with the disorder has been significantly delayed and is only now gaining momentum (Box 1).
How does school help with ADHD?
Providing treatment within a school allows providers to observe the students in structured and unstructured settings (e.g., classroom and cafeteria), speak regularly with the students' teachers, observe the direct effects of treatment, and provide services on a frequent basis over an extended period of time. These advantages of school mental health services are well-suited to address the chronic and pervasive problems of adolescents with ADHD.
How many empirical studies have been published on the efficacy of CHP?
To date, there have been nine empirical manuscripts published focusing on the efficacy of the CHP, reporting results from three randomized trials, one trial using a quasi-experimental design and other small studies from the treatment development process. Three studies of CHP have included random assignment to CHP or to a control group23-25and one included random assignment of schools, but not participants.26Sample sizes in these four studies ranged from 20 to 79 and three were conducted at the middle school level and one in high schools.
How long is after school CHP?
The after school model of the CHP has been provided between two and three days per week for 2 ½ hours per session over the course of an entire academic year. Interventions include Interpersonal Skills Group (ISG), academic skills training, sports skills, mentoring, and parent meetings. The CHP after school interventions have been provided by undergraduate students in the role of counselors with graduate students or faculty serving as supervisors. ISG is conducted in a group format and targets social impairment in a manner substantially different than traditional social skills training. The techniques in ISG address the developmental goal of defining a personal identity, teach adolescents to understand the cause and effect relationships between their behavior and this identity, and help them learn to engage in a constant monitoring and revising process pertaining to their interpersonal behavior so that it aligns with their goals for their identity. The academic skills training involves training in organization of academic materials and tracking of assignments, training in note-taking (see above) and creating flashcards and using both notes and flashcards for studying. Sports skills training is included to provide an opportunity to practice interpersonal skills learned in ISG and to develop skills and knowledge in common sports to allow adolescents to participate in these recreational and social activities in the community and at school. Brief mentoring meetings with CHP counselors occur at every CHP session and provide adolescents opportunities to share their concerns of the day, initiate special interventions to augment program services, and receive coaching and encouragement on treatment goals. Finally, there are monthly parent meetings that involve providing parents with information about ADHD and adolescence and helping them learn effective parenting practices. In order to monitor progress, identify areas of concern, and assess implementation of skills; CHP counselors communicate with parents and teachers regularly and observe students in structured and unstructured school settings.
Is there a school based intervention for ADHD?
There have been individual school-based interventions evaluated for adolescents with ADHD as well as comprehensive programs. In addition, there have been multiple secondary school-based interventions evaluated with samples that very likely included participants with ADHD, but that did not specifically examine the effects of the interventions on adolescents with ADHD (e.g., Check and Connect;13Family Check-Up14). We will restrict this review to those studies that specifically evaluated the effects of the treatment for adolescents with ADHD. Although research and development of school-based treatments for elementary school aged children goes back a few decades (see review15), adolescents were rarely participating in these studies throughout the 1990s.16Research in this area grew at the start of the new century and the first review of school based interventions specifically for adolescents with ADHD was published in 2008.17The treatment development work has focused on two specific interventions as well as two comprehensive programs.
What are accommodations for ADHD?
The non-pharmacological services most frequently provided to adolescents with ADHD in schools are often referred to as accommodations. These include adjustments to educational practices such as allowing students with ADHD extended time to complete tests and assignments, providing them with teacher or peer prepared notes from class, and reducing the length of assignments. Adolescents with ADHD often qualify for and receive these services through Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans. The purpose of these services is notably different from psychosocial interventions as there is no expectation that the adolescent will develop new or improved skills from these services. For example, a student may be provided with additional time to complete tests for many years, but there is no expectation that being afforded extended time will eventually lead to the student being able to complete tests independently within the expected time frame. When an adolescent is only providedaccommodations, the parents and educators are not focusing on improving the student's ability to independently meet age-appropriate expectations, but instead are reducing expectations to help the student get by with a deficient skill set. A recent review of these services revealed that there was no evidence that any of these services met the criteria for being an “accommodation” and only minimal evidence that any provide direct benefits to the students.12Furthermore, these services do not address social impairment, disruptive or delinquent behavior. As a result, the most frequently provided school-based services for adolescents with ADHD have little to no evidence to support their use.
How does ADHD affect school?
Compared to their peers, adolescents with ADHD earn significantly lower school grades, score significantly lower on standardized achievement tests and experience higher rates of special education placements, grade retention, and school dropout.4-6In fact, adolescents with ADHD are more than eight times more likely to drop out of school than their peers without ADHD.4Additionally, problems with delinquency and substance use begin as young as age 117and continue throughout adolescence.8Given the findings related to performance in secondary school, it is not surprising that adolescents with ADHD are far less likely to receive any post-secondary education or training than their peers.9As a result, social, behavioral and academic problems during adolescence are a high priority for parents of these youth and for the adolescents' long-term futures.