Publications by authors named "Brittany M Merrill"
Article Synopsis
- A comprehensive review of treatment research for ADHD in children and adolescents over the past 50 years analyzed 126 studies involving 10,604 participants in the U.S. !*
- Reporting on participant demographics revealed that most studies focused on White, non-Hispanic boys, with significant underrepresentation of girls, racial minorities, and Hispanic/Latine youth. !*
- The analysis also highlights an increase over time in the representation of girls and minorities in ADHD research, while suggesting the need for better demographic reporting and addressing research gaps.!*
Article Synopsis
- Many students with ADHD face poor academic outcomes, despite being recognized for special education and accommodations for decades.
- Current school policies have not effectively supported their academic, social, and behavioral needs due to inadequate interventions and a focus on assessment over practical support.
- The article advocates for integrating ADHD screening and interventions within a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) in general education, suggesting that special education should be reserved for those needing more intensive help.
Article Synopsis
- ADHD is a common, long-lasting mental health disorder in children, and while there are established evidence-based interventions, their efficacy and effectiveness can still be improved.
- * The text discusses various evidence-based interventions for children and adolescents with ADHD and suggests ways to enhance these approaches.
- * Recommendations include addressing moderators, exploring under-researched intervention areas, and improving access by utilizing underutilized workforce and technology.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the effects of behavioral treatment, stimulant medication (methylphenidate), and their combination on children with ADHD, ages 5-12.
- Results show that stimulant medication significantly improves child behavior and symptoms, with higher doses yielding better outcomes, while behavioral treatment also enhances goal attainment and reduces parenting stress.
- Parents expressed a strong preference (99%) for treatments involving behavioral strategies, suggesting that combining lower doses of medication with behavioral interventions may be equally or more effective than higher medication doses alone.
Unlabelled: During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools rapidly changed from in-class instruction to remote learning. Parent involvement and management of the home learning situation was greatly emphasized, and this presented challenges and opportunities for parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There was an urgent need for effective parent support in the home learning situation, particularly for parents of youth with ADHD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMindfulness as an Adjunct to Behavior Modification for Elementary-aged Children with ADHD.
Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol
December 2022
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder defined by pervasive symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Furthermore, children with ADHD show marked deficits in executive functioning (EF) such as attention, effortful control, and behavior, and are more likely to have poor self-regulatory skills. Current evidence-based interventions for children with ADHD include behavioral treatment (BT), psychopharmacological treatment, and their combination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - The study aimed to assess if stimulant medication (specifically OROS-MPH) enhances learning in children with ADHD during small-group classroom instruction.
- - 173 children aged 7-12 participated in a crossover trial where they were alternately given either the medication or a placebo while receiving daily instruction in science and vocabulary.
- - While medication significantly improved classroom behavior and productivity, it did not lead to better learning outcomes in terms of the content taught during the sessions.
Mind-Wandering and Childhood ADHD: Experimental Manipulations across Laboratory and Naturalistic Settings.
Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol
September 2022
The conceptual overlap between mind-wandering and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related impairments is considerable, yet little experimental research examining this overlap among children is available. The current study aims to experimentally manipulate mind-wandering among children with and without ADHD and examine effects on task performance. Participants were 59 children with ADHD and 55 age-matched controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obesity are highly prevalent, impairing, and costly conditions, affecting about 10% of children each. Research indicates heightened prevalence of childhood obesity among youth with ADHD. However, more research is needed, examining comorbid ADHD among youth with overweight/obesity (OV/OB) from diverse demographic backgrounds and effects on medically relevant behaviors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe relation between sustained attention in the laboratory and behaviors exhibited in naturalistic settings among children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) remains unclear. Additionally, research on stimulant medication effects in these areas and their association with one another remains scarce. Twenty-one children with ADHD and 21 children without ADHD completed a novel continuous performance test (CPT) involving high cognitive demands (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Individuals with ADHD tend to favor immediate rewards over delayed larger ones, highlighting challenges in choice impulsivity (CI).
- This study explored how OROS-MPH, a form of methylphenidate, affects CI, working memory (WM), and time perception in children aged 7-12 with ADHD.
- Results showed that OROS-MPH improved both CI and WM but did not impact time perception, and no significant links were found between CI and WM improvements, suggesting further research on other factors is needed.
Article Synopsis
- A study (PALS) examined the long-term strain mothers experience when raising children with ADHD into their teenage years and young adulthood, comparing them to mothers of children without ADHD.
- Results showed that mothers of adolescents/young adults with ADHD reported significantly higher caregiver strain, attributed to factors like ADHD severity, delinquency, and school discipline issues during the child's adolescence.
- The findings suggest a need for further research on how ongoing functional challenges in adolescents affect mothers and highlight potential areas for future interventions to support families.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to quantify the economic burden on families raising children with ADHD, utilizing a longitudinal sample from western Pennsylvania.
- Parents reported significant costs associated with raising their children, averaging $15,036 per child with ADHD compared to $2,848 for those without.
- The findings indicate that these economic burdens result in job changes and decreased work efficiency for parents, highlighting the necessity for interventions to alleviate these challenges associated with ADHD.
Functional Outcomes of Young Adults with Childhood ADHD: A Latent Profile Analysis.
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol
September 2020
Article Synopsis
- Adults with childhood ADHD show various levels of impairment in key life areas like education, work, and relationships, and researchers used latent profile analysis to explore these patterns among young adults.
- The study analyzed data from 317 individuals, confirming five distinct profiles of impairment related to ADHD that include different combinations of substance use, criminal behavior, and social issues.
- All identified subgroups had significant impairments compared to peers without ADHD, with no group showing complete absence of impairment; moreover, nearly all had difficulties in social, educational, and financial domains.
Article Synopsis
- Organization, Time Management, and Planning (OTP) issues significantly contribute to academic struggles in adolescents with ADHD, and parents have a crucial role in helping address these problems.
- A study involving 299 adolescents identified four distinct patterns of parental OTP management: Parental Control, Parent-Teen Collaboration, Homework Assistance, and Uninvolved, with the Uninvolved group being the largest at 40.5%.
- Furthermore, parents using ineffective OTP strategies tended to have higher levels of mental health issues, and their management strategies did not correlate with the adolescents' OTP skills or GPAs, suggesting that parents' approaches are not solely based on their teens' academic performance.
Article Synopsis
- The study focused on the effectiveness of behavioral sports training, medication, and their combination in enhancing sports abilities in youth with ADHD, involving 73 participants aged 5-12.
- Implementing a 3-week program featuring badminton, researchers found that sports training significantly improved skills, knowledge, and behaviors compared to recreational play, while medication further enhanced rule-following and sportsmanship.
- The findings suggest that skills training should be prioritized over medication alone, recommending that medication support structured sports training for youths exhibiting challenging behaviors in sports settings.
Improving homework performance among children with ADHD: A randomized clinical trial.
J Consult Clin Psychol
February 2017
Article Synopsis
- The study explores how different treatments (behavioral, psychostimulant, and combined) affect homework performance in children with ADHD, who often struggle academically due to their condition.* -
- Involving 75 children aged 5-12, results showed that the behavioral treatment focused on homework significantly improved homework completion and accuracy compared to a control group.* -
- While behavioral treatment showed strong positive effects, the medication alone had minimal impact on homework performance, highlighting the importance of tailored behavioral strategies for helping students with ADHD.*
Article Synopsis
- This study aimed to create and validate a user-friendly tool called the Adolescent Academic Problems Checklist (AAPC) for evaluating academic behaviors in adolescents with ADHD.
- The research involved 324 adolescents diagnosed with ADHD and assessed their academic problems through reports from parents, teachers, and the adolescents themselves.
- Findings showed that the AAPC is effective, with parents and teachers providing valuable, complementary insights about time management and planning issues often faced by these adolescents, emphasizing the need for thorough assessments before treatment.