A prospective look at substance use and criminal behavior in urban ADHD youth: what is the role of maltreatment history on outcome?

The High Rates of Comorbidity among Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Reconsidering the Clinical Utility of Distinct Diagnostic Categories

The boundaries between neurodevelopmental disorders are often indistinct, even among specialists. But do these boundaries exist, or do experts struggle to distinguish and categorize symptoms in order to arrive at a dominant diagnosis while comorbidity continually leaves questions about where each disorder ends and begins? What should be reconsidered? The introduction of the term 'spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders' could pave the way for a re-appraisal of the clinical continuum of neurodevelopmental disorders. This study aims to highlight the problems that emerge in the field of the differential diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders and propose a renegotiation of the distinctiveness criteria.

Screening for ADHD Symptoms among Criminal Offenders: Exploring the Association with Clinical Features

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disabling disorder. High rates of ADHD have been consistently reported among prisoners. The main objectives were (1) to estimate the prevalence of ADHD symptoms in a sample of male inmates and (2) to investigate the relationship between ADHD symptoms and socio-demographic/clinical features. According to the high prevalence of childhood trauma among inmates, we assessed whether exposition to childhood trauma can be related to the presence of ADHD symptoms. Methods: A total of 159 male prisoners admitted to Monza prison between January 2020 and June 2021 were included. Both Wender Utah ADHD rating scale and adult ADHD self-report scale were administered to assess ADHD symptoms. Moreover, inmates completed the childhood trauma questionnaire. Results: Data were available for 108 inmates. Thirty-five prisoners (32.4%) were found on screening to meet the criteria for symptoms of ADHD. Cocaine use disorder, prescription of mood stabilizers and a history of emotional abuse significantly increased the likelihood of having clinically significant ADHD symptoms. Furthermore, patients who experienced physical neglect resulted in meeting the criteria for ADHD symptoms. Conclusions: ADHD symptoms are widespread among inmates and are associated with specific risk factors. Screening for ADHD should be done to provide appropriate intervention strategies.

Clinical Characteristics of Personality and Conduct Disorders in Child Patients With Vasovagal Syncope: A Clinical Case-Control Study

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics of abnormal personality and conduct disorders (CDs) in pediatric patients with vasovagal syncope (VVS). Methods: In this study, we recruited patients diagnosed with VVS at Children's Heart Center from January 2018 to December 2020. Healthy children were recruited as controls. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Child edition (EPQ-C) and Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were used for the assessment. Results: One hundred and fifty-one VVS patients and 151 healthy controls were included in this study. Compared with the control group, patients in the VVS group had a higher incidence of abnormal personality and were more prone to suffer from CDs. Moreover, pediatric patients with VVS suffered more events of syncope recurrence if they had CDs. Conclusion: Abnormal personality and CDs are common clinical characteristics in pediatric patients with VVS.

ADHD modulates the course of delinquency: a 15-year follow-up study of young incarcerated man

There is growing evidence of an association between ADHD and rule-breaking behaviour and that subjects with ADHD are more likely to be involved in the legal system. However, the research on ADHD as a risk factor not only for delinquency but also for recidivism is scarce and findings are controversial. Therefore, we explored the impact of ADHD on the course of delinquency in a sample of incarcerated young men. We conducted a 15-year follow-up study by investigating the criminal records of 106 former youth prisoners. Criminal recidivism was operationalized through three variables: criminal recidivism; frequency of recidivism; and time to recidivism. The incremental predictive validity of ADHD was analysed using survival analysis and controlled for confounders associated with recidivism. Offenders with ADHD (n = 74) reoffended 2.5 times faster and showed a higher rate of recidivism and further incarcerations compared to non-ADHD offenders (n = 33), even when controlling for general risk factors such as antisocial personality disorder. Median survival rate ranged between 6 and 7 months in the ADHD groups and 25 months in the non-ADHD group. Our results revealed that ADHD has an incremental predictive power on criminal recidivism, even above general risk factors. Moreover, the criminogenic influence of ADHD appeared to be crucial in terms of the interplay of childhood ADHD, irrespectively of the persistence of the symptomatology into later life. Our findings therefore highlight the importance of early intervention and consequently prevention.

Adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and exposure to violence: parents' opinion

Objective:

to identify the opinion of parents or guardians of adolescents diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) about their children's exposure as perpetrators or victims of violence situations in family life or outside.

Method:

qualitative study with use of thematic oral history. Nine parents of 07 adolescents with ADHD participated. Data were collected from April to September of 2013 using thematic interview. The interviews were recorded at scheduled times at the participants' home, with an average duration of 30 minutes. The findings were submitted to inductive thematic analysis.

Results:

data analysis allowed the identification of the occurrence of "Conflicts in family life" and "Conflicts in the context of school and community". Parents reported the involvement of their children as victims, perpetrators and witnesses of physical and psychological violence, and the difficulty of them and the school to understand and handle these situations.

Conclusion:

violence occurs in ADHD adolescents' interpersonal relationships. Communication between health professionals, school and families is precarious. Through the systematization of nursing care, nurses can plan strategies that articulate support networks and interpersonal relationships of adolescents with the disorder (family and school).