ADHD - An Illustrated historical overview

Environmental family risks associated with ADHD include unspecific pre- and perinatal disorders, exposure to alco- hol and smoking during pregnancy, and psychosocial adversities such as severe deprivation in early childhood. Studies of family interaction and fam- ily life quality indicate a long lasting irritating influence on this behavioural disorder. Morrison and Stewart (1971) were the first authors who presented empirical results with regard to the high prevalence of increased alcohol abuse, antisocial behaviour and hyste- ria in parents of children with ADHD. Their results were confirmed one year later by Dennis Cantwell in a cohort of similar size. Lon- gitudinal studies which showed that ADHD may persist into adulthood com- menced in the late 1960s with the paper by Men- kens et al. (1967) and the studies by Mendelson (1971) and Stew- art (1973). ADHD is thus a disorder influenced by a complex interaction of genetic, non- genetic-organic, and environmental etiological factors. There exists a be- havioural disposition of the individual, but it is almost always a family issue, too. Picture contributed by the Struwwelpeter-Museum, Frankfurt, Germany. "Genetic influences are known to be strong. Nevertheless, naïve reductionism is unlikely to be enough for understanding. What is inherited appears to be a set of traits rather than an illness, and a set of dispositions to react to the environ- mental associations of ADHD.“ Eric Taylor, 2011.