About this Research Topic
ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. The onset is in early childhood but it can persist into adulthood. Although the impact of its core and associated symptoms on all the functioning areas is well known, ADHD still remains underdiagnosed in adults.
Recognizing ADHD in adults is a challenge mainly because of the high rate of co-occurrence with other psychiatric disorders. Accessory symptoms such as late onset sleep, low self-esteem and emotional dysregulation are often misinterpreted as clinical manifestations of mood, anxiety, and personality. An in-depth retrospective evaluation of the childhood symptoms with collateral informants seems to be essential for differential diagnosis, while focusing on specific features of the attention deficit core, such as excessive mind-wandering, might be useful during here and now assessment.
The present research topic aims to deepen ADHD diagnostic issues in adults, focusing on diagnosis recognition and taking into account the influence of other psychiatric disorders and even the possible complex psychopathology trajectories from childhood to adulthood.
The scope of the present research topic is to gather the available evidence concerning all aspects of ADHD diagnosis in adulthood. All the articles concerning the following topics will be considered relevant, whether they are original research, brief articles, mini-reviews, systematic-reviews:
● Prevalence of ADHD in real-world adult population;
● Prevalence of ADHD among adult patients with other psychiatric disorders;
● Development of validation of specific assessment tools useful for differential diagnosis process;
(e.g., mind-wandering or accessory symptoms assessment tools, neuroimaging or other instrumental approaches);
● Gender differences in clinical presentation of ADHD, especially if related to the challenging recognition of inattentive type in young girls and women;
● Prospective or retrospective evaluations of ADHD trajectories from childhood to adulthood;
● Trajectories within the psychiatric services of patients eventually diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood;
● Clinical investigations on peculiar presentation of other psychiatric disorders/symptoms in adult ADHD patients;
● Consequences of late diagnosis or underdiagnosis on patients’ schoastic and work-related achievements as much as on any other functional areas;
● Comparison of the average quality of life in ADHD patients under treatment and that of those not in treatment.
Recognizing ADHD in adults is a challenge mainly because of the high rate of co-occurrence with other psychiatric disorders. Accessory symptoms such as late onset sleep, low self-esteem and emotional dysregulation are often misinterpreted as clinical manifestations of mood, anxiety, and personality. An in-depth retrospective evaluation of the childhood symptoms with collateral informants seems to be essential for differential diagnosis, while focusing on specific features of the attention deficit core, such as excessive mind-wandering, might be useful during here and now assessment.
The present research topic aims to deepen ADHD diagnostic issues in adults, focusing on diagnosis recognition and taking into account the influence of other psychiatric disorders and even the possible complex psychopathology trajectories from childhood to adulthood.
The scope of the present research topic is to gather the available evidence concerning all aspects of ADHD diagnosis in adulthood. All the articles concerning the following topics will be considered relevant, whether they are original research, brief articles, mini-reviews, systematic-reviews:
● Prevalence of ADHD in real-world adult population;
● Prevalence of ADHD among adult patients with other psychiatric disorders;
● Development of validation of specific assessment tools useful for differential diagnosis process;
(e.g., mind-wandering or accessory symptoms assessment tools, neuroimaging or other instrumental approaches);
● Gender differences in clinical presentation of ADHD, especially if related to the challenging recognition of inattentive type in young girls and women;
● Prospective or retrospective evaluations of ADHD trajectories from childhood to adulthood;
● Trajectories within the psychiatric services of patients eventually diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood;
● Clinical investigations on peculiar presentation of other psychiatric disorders/symptoms in adult ADHD patients;
● Consequences of late diagnosis or underdiagnosis on patients’ schoastic and work-related achievements as much as on any other functional areas;
● Comparison of the average quality of life in ADHD patients under treatment and that of those not in treatment.
Keywords: ADHD, neurodevelopmental disorders, comorbidity
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