Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Introduction | Definition, Clinical Description, and Diagnosis | Epidemiology | Comorbidity | Etiology and Risk Factors | Pathophysiology | Course and Prognosis | Clinical Evaluation | Treatment | Research Directions | Summary Points | References
While attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) is sometimes portrayed as a "modern" condition, George Still (1902) is now credited with the first clinical description
of what today would be recognized as ADHD. The first treatment of
impulsive, hyperactive, and disruptive behavior with stimulant medication
was reported in the 1930s (Bradley 1937). Virginia
Douglas (Douglas and Peters 1979) first critically
examined the psychological data emerging from the study of "hyperactive" children
and laid out the cardinal symptoms of the disorder as inattention, impulsivity,
and hyperactivity; it was further noted that a subset of children
with "hyperactivity" were inattentive without
being hyperactive. Such data led to introduction of the term attention
deficit disorder (ADD) with and without hyperactivity.
Since then, the criteria have undergone refinements, leading to
the current terminology of ADHD with its inattentive, hyperactivity-impulsive,
and combined subtypes in DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association 1994) and its text revision, DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association 2000; see Table 15–1).