While experts in the field can confirm that ADHD is a neurobiological condition, it has also been long since known that the syndrome is also influenced by age-dependent behaviours and demands of the environment.
Seeking to establish whether increased academic pressure has played a role in the prevalence of the condition over recent decades, Jeffrey P. Brosco, a professor of clinical paediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has concluded that there does indeed exist a correlation.
Commenting on the changing approach to children and academia established during the course of their research, Dr. Brosco said: "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 '70s."
While drawing attention to this factor, Dr. Brosco outlined the crux of his hypothesis, continuing: "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."
With their findings indicating that increased pressure is being placed on children in the academic arena, Dr. Brosco and co-investigator Anna Bona are calling for further research into the effects this can have on a child's wellbeing.
"We feel that the academic demands being put on young children are negatively affecting a portion of them," he said. "For example, beginning kindergarten a year early doubles the chance that a child will need medications for behavioural issues."
While explaining that the increase in time devoted to academic issues ultimately results in a decrease in leisure and play-time, Dr. Brosco asserts that this can lead to the diagnosis of ADHD as children struggle to commit to the activity at hand.
"In the United States we've decided that increasing academic demands on young children is a good thing," Dr. Brosco said. "What we haven't considered are the potential negative effects."
While acknowledging that their findings do not prove causality, Dr. Brosco does reinforce the importance of reducing pressure on children by teaching through play, reading and social interaction.
The study has been published in JAMA Pediatrics.
