What causes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects around 1–3% of children. There is a high level of comorbidity with developmental and learning problems as well as with a variety of psychiatric disorders. ADHD is highly heritable, although there is no single causal risk factor and non-inherite...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of disease in childhood 2012-03, Vol.97 (3), p.260-265
Main Authors: Thapar, Anita, Cooper, Miriam, Jefferies, Rachel, Stergiakouli, Evangelia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - diagnosis
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - etiology
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - genetics
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Biological and medical sciences
Causes of
Child health
Children
Chromosome Aberrations
Comorbidity
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Educational Attainment
Environment
Environmental risk
Female
General aspects
Genetic aspects
Genetic Association Studies - methods
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Genetic variance
Health aspects
Humans
Hyperactivity
Learning disabilities
Learning disorders
Longitudinal Studies
low-birth-weight
Medical sciences
Mental disorders
Miscellaneous
Morbidity
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Prevention and actions
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Reviews
Risk Factors
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects around 1–3% of children. There is a high level of comorbidity with developmental and learning problems as well as with a variety of psychiatric disorders. ADHD is highly heritable, although there is no single causal risk factor and non-inherited factors also contribute to its aetiology. The genetic and environmental risk factors that have been implicated appear to be associated with a range of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric outcomes, not just ADHD. The evidence to date suggests that both rare and multiple common genetic variants likely contribute to ADHD and modify its phenotype. ADHD or a similar phenotype also appears to be more common in extreme low birth weight and premature children and those exposed to exceptional early adversity. In this review, the authors consider recent developments in the understanding of risk factors that influence ADHD.
ISSN:0003-9888
1468-2044
DOI:10.1136/archdischild-2011-300482