The scientific foundation for understanding attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as a valid psychiatric disorder

Abstract

Continued questioning of the validity of a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has created uncertainties about its management in the minds of many clinicians and the public. Inaccurate beliefs about the validity of ADHD hinder the clinical care of many ADHD patients and lead to confusion about the need to seek out or accept treatment. Critics describe ADHD as a diagnosis used to label difficult children who are not ill but whose behavior is at the extreme end of normal. They further contend that, far from having a biological basis, ADHD results from poor parenting and ineffective teaching practices. Such attitudes do much to further stigmatize patients and their families and increase the burden of this debilitating condition. This review attempts to address these challenges by presenting evidence to show that ADHD meets the criteria for a valid psychiatric diagnosis. Not only does it cause specific disabling symptoms that frequently persist into adulthood, but many studies show it has a biological basis and a characteristic response to treatment. Such data support the idea that ADHD is a valid diagnostic category.

ADHD: strategies to unravel its genetic architecture

“…ADHD has been firmly established as a psychiatric disorder that meets the criteria for the validation of psychiatric diagnoses as outlined by Robins and Guze (1970) (Faraone, 2005a). In spite of this, the disorder's validity has been challenged and criticized by popular media, journalists and politicians (Buitelaar and Rothenberger, 2004).…”

10.1 Genome-Wide Association Scan of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

“…ADHD is characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of hyperactive, impulsive and inattentive behaviors that give rise to significant clinical and psychosocial impairments. The disorder is clinically heterogeneous with considerable variation in the profile of the core symptoms of hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention and the pattern of associated comorbidities (Faraone 2005). In spite of this heterogeneity and some shift in diagnostic criteria (American Psychiatric 1987), ADHD is among the best-validated childhood diagnoses from clinical, longitudinal and neurobiological perspectives (Faraone and Biederman 1998) (Faraone and Biederman 2000) (Faraone 2006) (Faraone and Biederman 2004).…”

The Association of Alexithymia and Sense of Coherence With Life Satisfaction in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…Many children with ADHD grow out of their symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, but the symptoms sometimes persist into young adulthood [2]. Young and Gudjonsson [3] found that ADHD may be a risk factor for poor adjustment in adult life irrespective of the presence of all the symptoms in adulthood.…”