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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common disorder of childhood-adolescent brain health. Here, we take an integrative neuroscience approach to personalized medicine. The goal of this approach is: 1) to identify promising markers that bridge cognitive and brain measures, as well as genomics; these currently have value for supporting diagnostic and personalized treatment decisions in clinical practice. These markers are sensitive and specific for distinguishing ADHD, focusing on the triad of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. These markers are assessed with straightforward cognitive tests that relate to brain function and genes affecting dopamine. The same markers are also implicated in predicting response to stimulants. A different set of markers capturing alterations in emotion, feeling and their regulation shows promise in identifying comorbid internalizing conditions, such as anxiety, and externalizing conditions, such as conduct disorder.

In the U.S. the prevalence rate for the diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents is nearly 8%, and worldwide rates are 5%. This chapter reviews the evidence basis for the treatment of ADHD. The evidence for treatment of ADHD mainly centers around medication (particularly the psychostimulants) and one type of psychosocial treatment: behavioral therapy. Controversy exists about which should be the first-line intervention. These interventions are also evaluated against how well they address risk factors for the development of ADHD and an afflicted youth's ongoing adjustment. Recommendations for future research are explored, such as establishing whether there are certain, discrete subpopulations of ADHD that warrant particular treatment approaches.

Neurodevelopmental disorders are a diverse group of behaviourally-relevant multifactorial disorders related to an impairment of growth, maturation, or development of the central nervous system. The role of the hippocampus, however, has only recently been acknowledged. These disorders affect memory, emotion, cognitive abilities, and behaviour. Individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders might have comorbid disorders including intellectual impairment, seizures, and anxiety. The hippocampus is known to be vulnerable to hypoxia, stress, and malnutrition, and thus plays a clinically relevant role in children born preterm, after having experienced febrile seizures, fetal alcohol, or cocaine. Hippocampal dysfunctions are also known to be inherent as seen in Angelman syndrome, fragile-X syndrome, or Down syndrome. Complex interactions between environmental conditions and genetically predispositions are discussed in relation to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or Gilles de la Tourette syndrome in which hippocampal alterations are reported as well. However, even in normal brain development, there is a relationship between hippocampal structure and cognitive function as pointed out at the beginning of this chapter. Here, the structure–function relationship of the hippocampus within these complex syndromes and findings of developmental impairments are reviewed. The introduction of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), particularly with volumetric analysis, but also of functional imaging methods such as functional MRI (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), or single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) facilitated the study of hippocampal changes associated with deficits in children in recent years.

Characterized by developmentally atypical levels of inattention, activity, and impulsivity, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent disorder affecting 5%-8% of the school-age population. This chapter reviews school-based, psychosocial, or academic interventions for children affected by ADHD. It shows that there are empirically supported strategies for school social workers to use for children affected with ADHD. Most of these strategies would be classified as falling into more intensive and indicated forms of intervention, and this may be appropriate given the nature of the disorder- and child-specific symptom patterning and impairments. There is a need for school social practitioner proficiency in functional behavior assessment, and for a variety of behavioral and contingency management methods.

This chapter reviews the literature on task switching in four types of psychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and major depression. The first section discusses recent neurobiological theories of the link between cognitive control deficits and psychiatric disorders. It then focuses on task switching performance in each of the psychiatric disorders, discussing both behavioral and neural mechanisms that may be impaired for each group. The end of the chapter gives conclusions based on the work to date and the impact of this research for understanding cognitive control deficits in psychiatric disorders as well as the insights it provides into the nature of task switching.

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects ~3–6% of the school-age population in the USA. Symptoms of ADHD have been found to be relatively consistent from childhood through adolescence, whereas adults with ADHD tend to exhibit more symptoms of inattention than hyperactivity. Women and girls with ADHD have generally been insufficiently studied. Whereas core symptoms of ADHD are largely similar between boys and girls, girls exhibit less hyperactivity and comorbid conduct disorder. The precise aetiology of ADHD is unclear, and multiple biopsychosocial risk factors may act independently or in concert to produce disorder. Genetic vulnerability, pre- and perinatal exposures, and psychosocial factors have been found to increase risk of the disorder and its persistence. Childhood ADHD is associated with negative outcomes, such as school underachievement and substance use disorders. Rates of persistence of ADHD from childhood into adolescence and adulthood range widely depending on definition of ADHD and source of reporting of symptoms.

This chapter focuses on the consequences of sleep deficits for children between one and ten years of age. Research on adolescents and adults strongly suggests that sleep plays important roles in learning and behavior. Recent reviews suggest that less than optimal nighttime sleep is associated with less than optimal functioning during the day, particularly with respect to adults' learning, adolescents' academic performance, and attention deficit disorders in children. Likewise, sleep disordered breathing has been linked with cognitive functioning and emotions and behavior problems in children between the ages of four and sixteen years.

This chapter highlights how the strengths- and skills-building model can be used with adolescent disruptive behavior disorders, which include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Solution-focused therapy and motivational interviewing can be used together to build strengths and motivation and to get teens to take responsibility for the change process. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is then offered to address cognitive or behavioral deficits that may have played a role in the disruptive behavior.

Given that deficits in executive functions (EF) and writing impairments are both characteristics of several neurodevelopmental disorders, this chapter explored how EF are related to writing performance in students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), and specific learning disorders (i.e. dyslexia and dysgraphia). Although these neurodevelopmental disorders share similar features of executive dysfunction, the profiles between groups appear to differ, and different disorders have unique executive profiles. As these unique executive profiles have an impact on successful writing, it was intended to contribute to our understanding about the cognitive mechanisms (related with EF) that underlie writing development. Also, potential implications for clinical practice were discussed.

Schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) discusses how hyperactive dopaminergic neurotransmission appears to underlie schizophrenia’s positive symptoms, loss of dopaminergic neurons in adulthood leads to Parkinson’s disease, and dopamine neuron hypofunction in childhood and adolescence may underlie ADHD. Positive schizophrenia symptoms may arise from excessive incentive learning that is gradually lost with antipsychotic treatment. Declarative learning and memory may contribute to delusions based on excessive incentive learning. Loss of responsiveness to environmental stimuli in Parkinson’s may result from a decrease of their conditioned incentive value and inverse incentive learning. Conditioned incentive stimuli not encountered while in a state of decreased dopaminergic neurotransmission may retain their incentive value, producing apparent kinesia paradoxa. Dopamine hypofunction in juveniles does not lead to hypokinesia but may result in loss of incentive learning that focuses attention. Pro-dopaminergic drugs have a calming effect in ADHD, presumably because they reinstate normal incentive learning.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is marked by problems with functioning or development that are related to symptoms of a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity. It is the most common mental health problem in children, affecting as many as 1 in 20 children. It affects both boys and girls, but it is more predominant in boys. For males, prevalence rates are estimated to be three times that of females, 12.9% compared to 4.3%. Prevalence rates of ADHD in school-age children in the United States are estimated at 5% by the America Psychiatric Association. This chapter will focus on diagnosing and assessing ADHD from a differential diagnosis and comorbidity perspective. Evidenced-based ADHD interventions will be presented along with a discussion around the importance for school personnel to collaborate with the many other systems that impact children and youth with ADHD.

This chapter provides an overview of evidence-based practice methods, for school social workers and other school counselors, in the assessment and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Step-by-step procedures and guidelines for assessment and treatment interventions are discussed. Resources that will assist school social workers with specific intervention procedures and methods are cited. These resources contain in-depth information supported by evidence-based research and intervention methods that are cited in the reference list for this chapter. Some examples and one case scenario that will assist school social workers with the development of a framework for understanding how to develop an intervention plan for school children diagnosed with ADHD are provided.

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) affects approximately 1 in 3,500 newborns. There is a female preponderance. In areas of iodine insufficiency, the incidence is higher, since iodine is a key element in the synthesis of thyroid hormone. Approximately 85% of CH cases are sporadic, whereas 15% are hereditary. Thyroid hormone is essential for normal pre- and postnatal brain development. The importance of in utero thyroid hormone status is demonstrated by the fact that maternal hypothyroidism during pregnancy is known to result in cognitive and motor deficits in the offspring (Forrest 2004; Zoeller and Rovet 2004). Congenital hypothyroidism is already expressed in fetal life; maternal T4, transferred via the placenta, is not sufficient for normal brain development (Forrest 2004; Haddow et al. 1999; Opazo et al. 2008; Pop and Vulsma 2005). Prior to newborn screening, CH that went undiagnosed and untreated for more than 3 months was associated with permanent and significant mental retardation, as well as behavioral problems. Outcome is now significantly better. Children with CH have normal intelligence, although subtle and specific cognitive and behavioral problems occur. Congenital hypothyroidism can be caused by primary hypothyroidism, due to a defect of the thyroid gland, or by central hypothyroidism secondary to defective hypothalamic or pituitary regulation of thyroid hormone. Several types of primary thyroid abnormalities may occur. Thyroid dysgenesis is the result of a missing, ectopic, or hypoplastic gland. Proteins that are crucial for normal thyroid gland development include the thyroid transcription factors PAX8, TTF1, TTF2, FOXE1 and the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor gene. Thyroid dyshormonogenesis is generally due to an autosomal recessive genetic defect in any of many stages of thyroid hormone synthesis, secretion and transport (Moreno and Visser 2007). One in 50,000 children has autosomal dominant thyroid hormone resistance (RTH) due to a mutation in the gene encoding for the TRb thyroid receptors (Hauser et al. 1993; Weiss et al. 1993). Iodine deficiency can also cause CH (endemic cretinism) (DeLange et al. 2000). Gaudino and colleagues (2005) determined the etiology of CH in 49 non-athyroid cases.

An approach to depression is described, in which there is over-sensitivity of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex non-reward attractor system, and under-sensitivity of the medial orbitofrontal cortex reward system. Many functional connectivities involving the lateral orbitofrontal cortex are increased in depression, and many functional connectivities involving the medial orbitofrontal cortex are decreased in depression. Involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex in bipolar disorder, autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and compulsivity including obsessive-compulsive disorder, is also described.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent and heterogeneous developmental disorder, characterized by age-inappropriate levels of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity. ADHD presents significant challenges to the individual, with symptoms and associated difficulties often continuing into adulthood, and causing impairments in a range of important personal and social areas of an individual’s life. This chapter provides an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding ADHD in children, young people, and adults. Central information regarding diagnosis, prevalence, aetiology, comorbidity, associated functional impairment, neuropsychology, assessment, treatment, and prognosis is outlined in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the developmental course of ADHD and the functional impact of ADHD symptoms on the lives of individuals with ADHD. By offering a developmental perspective in the understanding of ADHD, it is possible to appreciate the long-term consequences of ADHD for individuals’ lives.

Paleopsychopathology is the study of mental problems and mental diseases that may have increased relative fitness in the ancestral environment but do not enhance fitness in the present environment. Some present pathologies (like Huntington’s chorea) may not have had any adaptive value in the ancestral environment, as some genetic disorders’ onset occurred well after what would have been prime reproductive years in the ancestral environment. Some psychopathologies may not have been advantageous in and of themselves, but either their polygenic basis or proximity to important genes may have given rise to successful adaptive phenotypes. For example, the location for the genes for schizophrenia are associated with the coding for immunity genes and creativity. Some personality disorders may have been adaptive in the ancestral environment because of their benefits in navigating social hierarchies. The evolution of an array of emotions may have also benefitted successful navigation in social groups.

This chapter considers deviations from the normal developmental path of two sorts. The first section of the chapter addresses childhood clinical syndromes that impact both children’s development and parents’ beliefs. Three syndromes are discussed: intellectual disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The second section of the chapter addresses deviations in the parent component of the parent–child dyad, considering both clinical conditions (in particular, depression and schizophrenia) and maladaptive parental practices (in particular, abuse or neglect). It also discusses the concept of resilience; that is, the ability of some children to overcome adverse early experiences.

There are many treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Each person with ADHD has different needs; there is no one treatment that fits all. Treatment can take the form of behavior therapy, family therapy, social skills training, parent skills training, psychotherapy, and medication. Education and supportive therapies are helpful for a family dealing with a child with ADHD. This chapter starts with a discussion of commonly prescribed psychotropic medications for ADHD and addresses the side effects and concerns that exist in prescribing them to children and adolescents. Evidence-based and promising practices are described, along with examples of the techniques used and session agendas. The end of the chapter returns to the case studies presented in Chapter 9, describes the real-life outcomes, and presents questions for discussion.

After a brief overview of the nature of attention, I argue that attention (and inattention) can be morally virtuous or vicious independently of associated overt actions. This is not, as others have claimed, because attention itself has moral value, but because attention can manifest underlying moral concern. After discussing the relationship between attention and concern, I discuss problematic cases related to mental disorders, in particular attention-deficit disorder and scrupulosity. I then apply the account to particular virtues associated with attention: modesty and gratitude. Gratitude, I argue, involves attention to our benefits and their sources, while modesty involves special patterns of attention away from our own good qualities. This account best explains how attention can be relevant to moral character.