Study Suggests Correlation between rise of ADHD Diagnosis and Increased Academic Expectations in Young Children (FL UCEDD/LEND)

April 11, 2016

A new study led by Jeffrey P. Brosco, M.D., Ph.D., professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has identified a possible correlation between the prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and increasing academic demands on young children.

In an article published last month by JAMA Pediatrics, Brosco hypothesized that increased academic standards since the 1970s have contributed to the rise in diagnosis of ADHD. "When we researched educational and public policy literature for studies that documented time children spent on academic activities, we were alarmed to find how substantially education had changed since the 1970s," said Brosco, who is also associate director of clinical services at the Mailman Center for Child Development at UHealth  the University of Miami Health System. "From time spent studying to enrollment rates in pre-primary programs, everything had increased, and not surprisingly, in the past 40 years we also saw ADHD diagnoses double." Read more about the research at http://med.miami.edu/news/increasing-adhd-rates-may-be-linked-to-heightened-academic-expectations-for