ADHD: NEUROBIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL APPROACHES TO PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

Abstract

ADHD is one of the most common mental health disorders affecting youth. While existing treatments are effective in controlling symptoms of the disorder over the short term, longer-term effects of ADHD remain an area of significant concern, highlighting the importance of advancing new preventive efforts and novel treatments. Here, we present 4 studies aimed at advancing neurobiological and psychosocial approaches to better prevention and treatment of ADHD. The first presentation describes a longitudinal birth cohort study aimed at identifying a prenatal exposure associated with ADHD in school-age children. The second presentation leverages a longitudinal, probability-based sample of Puerto Rican children to study the association between ADHD and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The third presentation describes a mechanistic study of psychostimulants’ therapeutic effects by coupling neuroimaging with an RCT. The fourth presentation describes a novel psychosocial treatment for ADHD. The first presentation demonstrates an association between prenatal acetaminophen exposure measured from fetal meconium and the subsequent development of ADHD in childhood. In the second presentation, we show that the diagnosis of ADHD prospectively increases risk of children experiencing adversity. The third presentation highlights the importance of a novel measurement of brain connectivity in understanding the mechanisms by which psychostimulants reduce ADHD symptoms. In the last presentation, we offer initial support for a novel mindfulness-based intervention as a feasible and efficacious approach to treating ADHD. ADHD is a chronic disorder and is associated with a host of long-term negative outcomes. In these 4 presentations, we describe new insights that may advance prevention strategies as well as novel treatment development, with the goal of limiting the negative effects of this highly common and impairing condition.