One of the most common psychiatric disorders in children is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Its course and outcome are heterogeneous. Sensory processing problems impact the nature of response to daily events. ADHD and sensory problems may occur together and interact. No published review article about sensory processing problems in children with ADHD were found. A systematic search, conducted on Pub-Med (up to January 2010), and Google Scholar, yielded 255 abstracts on sensory processing problems in children including 11 studies about sensory problems in children with ADHD. Sensory processing problems in children with ADHD is not a well studied area. Sensory processing problems in children with ADHD are more common than in typically developing children. Findings do not support that ADHD subtypes are distinct disorders with regard to sensory processing problems. However, co-morbidity with oppositional defiant disorder and anxiety are predictors of more severe sensory processing problems in children with ADHD.

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Sensory processing problems in children with ADHD, a systematic review.

There are controversial or even opposite findings about gender and prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders among different subtypes of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The participants were children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Gender, subtype of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and the interaction effects were evaluated by logistic regression. Of the 171 children, 73 (42.7%) were of the combined subtype, 45 (26.3%) inattentive, and 52 (31.0%) were hyperactive/impulsive. The prevalence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder subtypes was not different between genders. There was no significant difference of gender by subtype interaction effects on the children's age. This study does not provide evidence supporting attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder subtypes as distinct clinical entities in terms of comorbidity. Association of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder subtypes and psychiatric disorders in Iran is somehow different from that in some studies conducted in the Western culture. It is more similar to that of other Asian countries.

Psychiatric Comorbidity Differences in Clinic-Referred Children and Adolescents With ADHD According to the Subtypes and Gender:

Increasingly, school-aged children present with challenging emotional and behavioral problems and may be resistant to traditional special education approaches (Smith et al., Behav Disorders 36(3):185–194, 2011). These programs do not take into consideration the specific needs of students with emotional and behavioral disorder (EBD). We examined the feasibility and potential for positive effects of yoga sessions within a school setting for children with EBD at an urban elementary school. Thirty-seven children with EBD in an urban school completed a yoga intervention in small groups (7–10 students) twice per week for 3 ½ months. Teachers, parents, and students completed a systematic pre- and post-intervention assessment, and yoga instructors completed attendance and behavior checklists. Average attendance for the yoga sessions was 90 %. Eighty percent of responders described being very satisfied with the intervention. Teachers reported improved attention in class (p = 0.01) and adaptive skills (p = 0.03) and reduced depressive symptoms (p = 0.03), behavioral symptoms (p = 0.01), and internalizing symptoms (p = 0.04). No significant changes were found in the parent data and no discernable trend was found in student reports. These data suggest that yoga administered in small groups in an urban school setting is a feasible school intervention for children with emotional and behavioral disorders and may be effective in reducing symptoms.

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Yoga in an Urban School for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: A Feasibility Study

Objective: The Kidscreen-52 is a questionnaire developed in European countries to assess the health-related quality of life in children and adolescents and to provide proxy measures for parents and guardians. The purpose of this study was to translate the tool into Portuguese, to describe the cross-cultural adaptation and to identify its psychometric properties for a Brazilian population. Methods: The original questionnaire was translated following international guidelines. Translated versions of the questionnaire were analyzed by a committee of experts. The committee used semantic, idiomatic, cultural and conceptual equivalences as criteria of analysis. The final version of the translated questionnaire was administered to 758 schoolchildren of both genders and 653 parents/guardians, in the city of Londrina, Brazil. In order to identify the psychometric properties, exploratory factorial analysis with varimax rotation were completed. Cronbach’s α coefficient

Tradução, adaptação transcultural e propriedades psicométricas do KIDSCREEN-52 para a população brasileira

Objective: We aimed to determine distribution and diversities of psychiatric comorbidities in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in terms of age groups, sex, and ADHD subtype. Materials and methods: The sample included 6–18 year old children and adolescents from Turkey (N=108; 83 boys, 25 girls) diagnosed with ADHD. All comorbid diagnoses were determined based on the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version assessment. Results: 96.3% of the cases were found to have at least one psychiatric comorbid diagnosis. The most frequent psychiatric comorbid disorder was oppositional defiant disorder (69.4%) followed by anxiety disorders (49%) and elimination disorders (27.8%). Disruptive behavior disorders were more common in ADHD-combined type. Depression and anxiety disorders were more common in girls. Separation anxiety disorder and elimination disorder were more common in children, whereas depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and social phobia were more common in the adolescents. Conclusion: According to our results, when a diagnostic tool was used to assess the presence of comorbid psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD, almost all cases had at least one comorbid diagnosis. Therefore, especially in the clinical sample, ADHD cases should not be solely interpreted with ADHD symptom domains, instead they should be investigated properly in terms of accompanying psychiatric disorders.

Psychiatric comorbidity distribution and diversities in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a study from Turkey.

It is well-known that more than 50% of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) cases also have comorbid psychiatric disorders. We evaluated the comorbid psychopathology of Korean children and adolescents with ADHD using a standardized diagnostic instrument. The Korean Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL-K) was administered and completed in 105 patients who had been referred to the outpatient and inpatient clinics at the Samsung Medical Center from March 2004 to May 2005. All of the cases were diagnosed as ADHD according to DSM-IV criteria. We analyzed their clinical characteristics and psychiatric comorbidities, and assessed the correlation of any comorbidity with gender, age and ADHD subtype. Among our 105 participants, 70 (66.7%) subjects were diagnosed with combined-type ADHD, 22 (21.0%) were the predominantly inattentive type, only 1 (1.0%) was determined to have the predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type of ADHD, and 12 (11.4%) were classified as not otherwise specified (NOS) ADHD. Eighty (76.2%) subjects had at least one comorbid disorder such as oppositional defiant disorder (n = 53, 50.5%), anxiety disorders (n = 35, 33.3%) and affective disorders (n = 15, 14.3%). Our patients ranged in age from five to 16 years. Among the factors including gender, age, and ADHD subtype, ADHD subtype was the only one significant to comorbidity in our study. The results of this study suggest that psychiatric comorbidity in Korean children with ADHD is similar to the results of previous studies in western countries. Out of all the ADHD subtypes, the combined-type group had a significantly higher ratio of comorbid disorders and psychopathologies.

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Psychiatric comorbidity in Korean children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: psychopathology according to subtype.

The KIDSCREEN-52 quality-of-life (KIDSCREEN-52-HRQOL) is a relevant, worldwide tool used for assessing the health-related quality of life in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to define measurement properties of the Korean version of the KIDSCREEN-52 HRQOL. The original questionnaire was translated following international translation guidelines. Analysis regarding psychometric properties showed that the Cronbach-alpha ranged from 0.77 to 0.95. The correlation coefficient between the PedQL and KIDSCREEN-52 dimensions were high for the assessments of similar constructs. Therefore, the Korean version of the KIDSCREEN-52 was found to be suitable for use in Korean adolescents.

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Heejung Byun

Papers

Psychiatric comorbidity in Korean children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: psychopathology according to subtype.

The KIDSCREEN-52 quality of life measure for children and adolescents (KIDSCREEN-52-HRQOL): reliability and validity of the Korean version.