Research links stress to ADHD

Researchers from the University of Melbourne and the Howard Florey Institute have discovered a biological cause for why children with ADHD are not able to handle stressful environments.

The study, which featured in a recent issue of the prestigious journal Molecular Psychiatry , consisted of 24 children performing spatial working memory tasks involving mental rotation.

Results show that dysfunction in a region of the brain — the right parietal lobe, which underpins our abilities to develop coping strategies — is linked to behaviour in ADHD children.

“The study helps us further understand how brain function underlies erratic and aggressive behaviour in ADHD children,” said chief investigator Prof Alasdair Vance of the Department of Paediatrics at the university.

“Children who suffer ADHD do not have the same coping mechanisms for stress as other people do. It cannot be assumed that ADHD behaviour is the fault of bad parenting or lack or discipline.”

“This discovery has the real potential to improve treatment strategies for ADHD, to enable these children to better manage the demands of their family and school relationships.”

Between 1–3% of the population suffer from ADHD, a neurological disorder that affects planning, impulse control and mood and arousal regulation. Sufferers have difficulty controlling their behaviours in high-stress environments such as the classroom or playground.

Vance said children will do anything to feel in control of their situation and have negative, oppositional ways of relating. This includes changing the rules of a game endlessly and arguing back.

“They can be impulsive, ‘hyper ’, anxious and aggressive, and use this behaviour to shut down the competing factors to simplify their environment,” he said.

“What you might best compare it to is the mindless act of road rage. They choose to become angry when really the important thing is to get home and not have that fight.”

These new findings will help to create more targeted treatments for ADHD. But Vance says medication is not the only answer.

“More targeted drugs will help a child to change behaviours. But environment is also an important factor. These children are fine in low-stress environments; the challenge is to get the right mix in the treatment regime.”