Attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dissociative disorder among abused children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the psychiatric problems and characteristics among children of child abuse (CA). Specifically, the authors investigated whether attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms were exhibited before or after CA. A total of 39 abused child inpatients who were treated at Aichi Children's Health and Medical Center, Aichi, Japan, (mean age, 10.7 ± 2.6; mean IQ scores, 84.1 ± 19.3) were included in the study. The most frequent diagnosis was dissociative disorder in 59% of abused subjects. ADHD was diagnosed in 18% of abused subjects, and 71% of ADHD children had comorbid dissociative disorder. A total of 67% of all CA subjects fulfilled the ADHD criteria A according to DSM-IV-TR, however, only 27% of those fulfilled the criteria before CA. The subjects of dissociative disorder fulfilled ADHD criteria A more frequently than those of non-dissociative disorder (P = 0.013), and this result led to an increase in the frequency of the apparent ADHD. The rate of ADHD-suspected parents in the subjects who fulfilled ADHD criteria A after CA was significantly lower than those who fulfilled it before CA (P = 0.005). While it is difficult to distinguish ADHD from dissociative disorder, abused children may have increased apparent ADHD due to dissociative disorder. Further studies should be conducted in order to explore the distinct biological differences between ADHD before CA and the subjects who fulfilled ADHD criteria A after CA.

Childhood abuse and neglect in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

“…Traumatic experiences may lead to ADHD symptoms [1,2], although it is difficult to distinguish ADHD from dissociative symptoms [3] and PTSD [4]. Consistent with these latter studies, we found that PTSD symptoms and dissociative symptoms were more common in adults with ADHD when compared with healthy controls.…”

“…Several studies have suggested that Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and dissociative experiences are more common in individuals with ADHD. It has been shown that ADHD symptoms can emerge after traumatic experiences in children [1,2] although it is difficult to distinguish ADHD from dissociative symptoms [3] and PTSD [4].…”

Retained Primitive Reflexes and ADHD in Children

“…As a consequence, these persisting primitive reflexes may play a role in ADHD. In the light of current findings these data are in agreement with neurological concept proposed by Jacksonian theory according to which persisting primitive reflexes may cause "dissolution" (Andermann, 1997;Franz & Gillett, 2011;Jacyna, 2011) that may result in ADHD patients into various symptomatic forms (Endo, Sugiyama, & Someya, 2006;Johnson et al, 2007). This process of dissolution related to retained primitive reflexes is based on disinhibition of neural functions or their release from control that leads to dysregulation of later developed adaptive functions (Franz & Gillett, 2011) and may be linked to various neuropsychiatric syndromes (Keshavan & Yeragani, 1987;Youssef & Waddington, 1988;Zafeiriou, 2004;Links et al, 2010;Nicolson et al, 2011;Sanders & Gillig, 2011).…”

The Scientific Status of Childhood Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Review of Published Research

“…The review led to the identification of 19 articles presenting case studies [18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36] and 13 empirical articles containing data on 15 samples of aggregate cases [37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49]. The case study articles included 44 individual cases, and the empirical studies included approximately 211 participants diagnosed with DID.…”