Introduction
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is among the world’s most common neurodevelopmental disorders. In this context, substantial growing trends in the frequency of ADHD diagnosis and treatment cases were registered across the globe. For its main reasons, the research includes a different approach to its diagnosis previously and nowadays, changes in populations’ attitudes toward ADHD, and the influence of social media. Consequently, it is necessary to define which reasons contribute to the trend the most to address it adequately.
Background Information
ADHD can be described as a neurobehavioral disorder represented by excessive inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and carelessness that are often age-inappropriate, impairing, and pervasive. ADHD symptomatology derives from emotional dysregulation and executive dysfunction. In children, the inability to stay focused may result in poor performance at school. In turn, adults’ hyperactivity is typically replaced by inner restlessness, which often causes them to compensate for their impairments by developing coping skills. Another common symptom is hyperfocus: people with ADHD are often capable of maintaining intense and surprisingly prolonged attention for problems they find enjoyable or rewarding despite failing to focus on other cases. The exact causes of ADHD are unknown in most cases, however, genetic factors play an important role.
Trend’s Discussion
ADHD diagnosis among children and their adolescent counterparts has vastly increased over the last decades. Regarding the parent-reported cases of children (ages 4-17) in the US, there has been an increase in prevalence from roughly 8% in 2003 to 11% in 2011(Davidovitch et al., 2017). However, considering the total population, the bulk of ADHD diagnoses became five times more frequent – from two out of a thousand patients in 1999 to almost 11 in 2010 (Zhu et al., 2017). The trend of increasing frequency in ADHD diagnosis can be seen worldwide: cases of ADHD diagnosis increased from 5% in 2007 to roughly 7% in 2012 (Davidovitch et al., 2017). For instance, in Sweden, the annual count of ADHD-diagnosed people in the population was one out of a thousand in 2006, increasing to almost five in 2011 (Giacobini et al., 2018). Overall, the trend of ADHD diagnosis increase has become apparent and, thus, requires a more thorough investigation.
Unfortunately, there is no unity in opinions on the causes of increased ADHD diagnosis rates. One possible explanation can be either an underdiagnosis in previous decades or an overdiagnosis in the present. For instance, Fairman et al. (2020) draw their evidence from the changes in the medical field concerning this particular disorder. Mainly, the changes occurred in ADHD formulations and diagnosis guidelines for children, adolescents, and adults. Firstly, the age range has been broadened for children and adolescents. Secondly, the number of criteria needed for diagnosing ADHD in adolescent and adult categories has been reduced. Lastly, the ADHD symptomatology has been modified for the cases of individuals 18 years old and older.
Another cause lies in people’s psychology regarding ADHD. According to Davidovitch et al. (2017), the attitude toward ADHD and associated medication from the parental perspective has changed over the last decades. There are registered cases when parents who have not received an ADHD diagnosis for their child start to seek other practitioners to repeat the evaluation (Davidovitch et al., 2017). The logic behind such a tendency is that the parents began associating ADHD medication with the possibility of stimulating the children’s academic performance.
Lastly, one possible cause can be the children’s increased exposure to various mass media sources. Beyens et al. (2018) characterize the nature of contemporary screen media means of entertainment as “violent, arousing, and fast-paced” and imply the reciprocal relationship between children’s media use and ADHD-related behaviors. They studied indirect (program pacing, violent content), conditional (susceptibility), and transactional (preferences as a cause or consequence) media effects on children but found only little statistical evidence of reciprocity (Beyens et al., 2018). In a further study from 2020, the same collective dived deeper into the transactional media effects. The results showed that children with progressing ADHD are likelier to prefer violent media (Beyens et al., 2020). However, the researchers could still not provide definite proof of media effects causing ADHD development.
Trend’s Evaluation
Overall, based on the first two reasons, it is highly probable that the sheer increase in ADHD evaluation cases has ultimately caused the discussed trend. In the case of the practitioners’ attitude, their diagnosis relies mainly on education and practice. They have to adhere to the American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines, but it is challenging to examine how closely the guidelines are followed. Moreover, an ADHD diagnosis does not require extensive documentation of the disorder’s criteria compared to, for example, the autistic spectrum; thus, it can be diagnosed more easily (Davidovitch et al., 2017). In the case of the parental attitude, it is genuinely possible that the purposeful search for the “right” practitioner will eventually achieve its goal. However, the point concerning exposure to media failed to prove its contribution to the trend. While future research on the topic might provide more solid evidence, contemporary studies can only confirm violent media preference among children is the consequence, not the cause of ADHD-related behaviors.
Conclusion
Among the possible explanations for the increase in ADHD diagnoses, diagnostic approach changes and shifts in the population’s perceptions prove to be more probable than the media influence. The increased diagnostical age range, greater simplicity of the diagnostic process, and the patients’ misbeliefs increase the raw number of evaluations for ADHD, which in turn causes the respective growth in the disorder’s positive diagnoses. In other words, the overall attitude toward ADHD can be considered the main reason for the discussed trend; therefore, changing the attitude might help address the issue.
References
Beyens, I., Valkenburg, P. M., & Piotrowski, J. T. (2018). Screen media use and ADHD-related behaviors: Four decades of research. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(40), 9875-9881.
Beyens, I., Piotrowski, J. T., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2020). Which came first? Assessing transactional relationships between children’s violent media use and ADHD-related behaviors. Communication Research, 47(8), 1228-1245.
Davidovitch, M., Koren, G., Fund, N., Shrem, M., & Porath, A. (2017). Challenges in defining the rates of ADHD diagnosis and treatment: Trends over the last decade. BMC pediatrics, 17(1), 1-9.
Fairman, K. A., Peckham, A. M., & Sclar, D. A. (2020). Diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in the United States: Update by gender and race. Journal of attention disorders, 24(1), 10-19.
Giacobini, M., Medin, E., Ahnemark, E., Russo, L. J., & Carlqvist, P. (2018). Prevalence, patient characteristics, and pharmacological treatment of children, adolescents, and adults diagnosed with ADHD in Sweden. Journal of attention disorders, 22(1), 3-13.
Zhu, Y., Liu, W., Li, Y., Wang, X., & Winterstein, A. G. (2018). Prevalence of ADHD in publicly insured adults. Journal of attention disorders, 22(2), 182-190.