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• While maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) is established as a risk factor for ADHD, the mechanisms underlying this association are not well understood. • We investigated the effect of MSDP on cortical brain structures in children with ADHD. • A significant effect of MSDP on structural MRI parameters was detected when using an epigenetic signature instead of maternal recall. Maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) is considered a risk factor for ADHD. While the mechanisms underlying this association are not well understood, MSDP may impact the developing brain in ways that lead to ADHD. Here, we investigated the effect of prenatal smoking exposure on cortical brain structures in children with ADHD using two methods of assessing prenatal exposure: maternal recall and epigenetic typing. Exposure groups were defined according to: (1) maternal recall (+MSDP: n = 24; −MSDP: n = 85) and (2) epigenetic markers (EM) (+EM: n = 14 −EM: n = 21). CIVET-1.1.12 and RMINC were used to acquire cortical brain measurements and perform statistical analyses, respectively. The vertex with highest significance was tested for association with Continuous Performance Test (CPT) dimensions. While no differences of brain structures were identified between +MSDP and –MSDP, +EM children (n = 10) had significantly smaller surface area in the right orbitofrontal cortex (ROFc), middle temporal cortex (RTc) and parahippocampal gyrus (RPHg) (15% FDR) compared to -EM children (n = 20). Cortical surface area in the RPHg significantly correlated with CPT commission errors T-scores. This study suggests that molecular markers may better define exposure to environmental risks, as compared to human recall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Physical educators suggested that they are not well-informed about behaviors of children with disabilities, especially attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children with ADHD represent a significant number of students in school systems worldwide who often experience difficulties in performing fundamental movement skills. Reasons for these challenging movement behaviors are not clearly understood. There were no significant effects of stimulant medication on performance of the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2) for 22 children with ADHD. Six boys with ADHD possessed superficial content knowledge about physical activity (PA) participation. Poor movement skills may be related to a mismatch between content knowledge and specific skill performance, which can be problematic at individual skill levels. Purpose: To explore how children with ADHD regulate PA participation by listening to PA stories. Participants and setting: Ten children with ADHD participated in this study. They were identified by qualified child psychiatrists from an ADHD clinic at a major mental health institute in a large urban Canadian city. Research design: A concurrent mixed methods design explored the PA experiences of the children. The qualitative data were given a higher priority. Data collection: The quantitative research component was individualized assessments of fundamental movement skills with the TGMD-2 and Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2. The qualitative research component included: (1) PA self-reporting where each child recorded daily experiences for a two week period and (2) concurrent scrapbook interviews that enhanced participant recall/reflection to generate rich discussions about individual PA experiences. Data analysis: Quantitative skill assessments provided movement-related descriptions of participants. Individual skill levels were labeled with normative test descriptors linked to each respective assessment instrument. These qualitized descriptors were mixed with interview data only after all movement skill assessments and scrapbook interviews were completed. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and a within group thematic analysis was conducted. Findings: Many of the children demonstrated movement skill problems on both tests but skill performance was worse on the TGMD-2. Three qualitative themes emerged. The participants with ADHD spoke about their PA experiences in many different individual physical activities (play theme) and various settings (context theme). All children expressed personal wishes to be included in PA with other children in the community. A range of perceived self-regulatory behaviors emerged for planning PA (organization theme). The findings suggest some of the children with ADHD chose and organized their own PA while other children performed PA that was immediately in front of them with minimal organization of their PA behaviors. Conclusions: Children with ADHD told PA stories that many children without disabilities would tell. However, many of the children with the disorder described experiences related to exclusion from PA. They also lacked conceptual understanding of the purpose and goals related to general participation in various PA. Physical education teacher interventions, leisure counseling and community-based participatory research projects in PA are among the recommendations discussed for children with ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare the fundamental movement skills of 22 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), from 6 to 12 years of age, to gender- and age-matched peers without ADHD and assess the effects of stimulant medication on the movement skill performance of the children with ADHD. Repeated measures analyses revealed significant skill differences between children with and without ADHD (p

Objective: To compare the pattern of familial aggregation of psychopathology in children who are good responders (GR) to methylphenidate (MPH) versus those who are poor responders (PR).Method: A total of 118 clinically referred children ages 6 to 12 years, diagnosed with ADHD participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized 2-week crossover trial of MPH from 1999 to 2004. A low dose of 0.5 mg/kg of body weight of MPH divided in two equal doses was used. Family history was obtained by interviewing at least one key historian relative of each subject using Family Interview for Genetic Studies. Information was collected on 342 first-degree and 1,151 second-degree relatives of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Results: Forty-four subjects showed mild or no improvement (PR) and 74 showed moderate or very much improvement (GR) on MPH over placebo. First-degree relatives of GR subjects were at significantly higher risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder than the relatives of PR subjects (p<.05). Second-degree relatives of the GR were at significantly higher risk of antisocial personality disorder compared to the relatives of PR subjects (p<.05).Conclusions: The significantly higher presence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the first-degree relatives and of antisocial personality disorder in the second-degree relatives of GR children suggests that this group may, at least partially, be distinct from the PR group on the basis of genetic determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities respond differently to methylphenidate (MPH) compared with children with ADHD only. Methods: We conducted a prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, 2-week crossover trial of MPH, during which response to MPH was assessed. Learning ability was appraised using the Wide Range Achievement Test, Revised (WRAT-R), for English-speaking students and the Test de rendement pour francophones for French-speaking students. The study was conducted at the Douglas Hospital, a McGill University-affiliated teaching hospital in Montréal. Ninety-five children, aged 6-12 years, who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV), criteria for ADHD participated in the study, which ran from 2001 to 2004. The outcome measure used was the Consensus Clinical Response, an indicator of the degree of clinical improvement shown when taking MPH. Results: The proportion of children with learning disabilities who responded to MPH (55%) was significantly smaller (χ1²= 4.5, p = 0.034) than the proportion of children without learning disabilities who responded adequately to MPH (75%). This difference was mainly because of children with mathematics disability being particularly unresponsive to MPH (χ1² = 4.5, p = 0.034). Children with reading disability did not show this pattern of poor response (χ1² = 1.0, p = 0.33). Conclusion: Children with ADHD and comorbid learning disability tended to respond more poorly to MPH. In particular, children with disability in mathematics responded less to MPH than those without disability in mathematics. Additional therapy may be indicated for this group of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]