"Your Child Should Not Return": Preschool Expulsion Among Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder as an Early Indicator of Later Risks.

OBJECTIVE: Young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can have challenging behaviors putting them at risk for preschool expulsion and for adverse outcomes across child development, health, and education. We examined the association of preschool expulsion with ADHD symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and functioning among children with ADHD. METHODS: Using the cross-sectional National Survey of the Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD and Tourette Syndrome on 2947 children aged 5 to 17 years ever diagnosed with ADHD, parents reported on preschool expulsion, ADHD symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and functioning. Weighted analyses included calculations of estimated means, prevalence, and prevalence ratios. RESULTS: Preschool expulsion was experienced by 4.4% of children ever diagnosed with ADHD (girls: 1.5%; boys: 5.7%). Children with preschool expulsion had lower mean ages at first concern about ADHD symptoms, ADHD diagnosis, and initiation of ADHD medication and had higher prevalence of severe ADHD symptoms and other mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders. A history of preschool expulsion was associated with difficulties with overall school performance, organized activities, writing, handwriting, and the parent-child relationship, but not with math, reading, or peer or sibling relationships. Children with preschool expulsion more often received school supports, behavioral classroom management, peer intervention, and social skills training. CONCLUSION: Among children ever diagnosed with ADHD, history of preschool expulsion was associated with more severe ADHD symptoms, other disorders, earlier diagnosis and medication initiation, and academic and social impairment. Health care providers can use preschool expulsion as an indicator of risk for children with ADHD and connect families to effective treatments.

Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnoses and Congenital Cytomegalovirus.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) administrative diagnoses in US children. METHODS: Cohort study using 2014 to 2020 Medicaid claims data. We used diagnosis codes to identify cCMV (exposure), ASD (outcome), and covariates among children enrolled from birth through ≥4 to <7 years. Covariates include central nervous system (CNS) anomaly or injury diagnosis codes, including brain anomaly, microcephaly within 45 days of birth, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or chorioretinitis. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals, overall and stratified by sex, birth weight and gestational age outcome (low birth weight or preterm birth), and presence of CNS anomaly or injury. RESULTS: Among 2 989 659 children, we identified 1044 (3.5 per 10 000) children with cCMV and 74 872 (25.0 per 1000) children with ASD. Of those with cCMV, 49% also had CNS anomaly or injury diagnosis codes. Children with cCMV were more likely to have ASD diagnoses (hazard ratio: 2.5; 95% confidence interval: 2.0-3.2, adjusting for birth year, sex, and region). This association differed by sex and absence of CNS anomaly or injury but not birth outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Children with (versus without) cCMV diagnoses in Medicaid claims data, most of whom likely had symptomatic cCMV, were more likely to have ASD diagnoses. Future research investigating ASD risk among cohorts identified through universal cCMV screening may help elucidate these observed associations.

ADHD Prevalence Among U.S. Children and Adolescents in 2022: Diagnosis, Severity, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To provide updated national prevalence estimates of diagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), ADHD severity, co-occurring disorders, and receipt of ADHD medication and behavioral treatment among U.S. children and adolescents by demographic and clinical subgroups using data from the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). METHOD: This study used 2022 NSCH data to estimate the prevalence of ever diagnosed and current ADHD among U.S. children aged 3-17 years. Among children with current ADHD, ADHD severity, presence of current co-occurring disorders, and receipt of medication and behavioral treatment were estimated. Weighted estimates were calculated overall and for demographic and clinical subgroups (n = 45,169). RESULTS: Approximately 1 in 9 U.S. children have ever received an ADHD diagnosis (11.4%, 7.1 million children) and 10.5% (6.5 million) had current ADHD. Among children with current ADHD, 58.1% had moderate or severe ADHD, 77.9% had at least one co-occurring disorder, approximately half of children with current ADHD (53.6%) received ADHD medication, and 44.4% had received behavioral treatment for ADHD in the past year; nearly one third (30.1%) did not receive any ADHD-specific treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric ADHD remains an ongoing and expanding public health concern, as approximately 1 million more children had ever received an ADHD diagnosis in 2022 than in 2016. Estimates from the 2022 NSCH provide information on pediatric ADHD during the last full year of the COVID-19 pandemic and can be used by policymakers, government agencies, health care systems, public health practitioners, and other partners to plan for needs of children with ADHD.

Who Provides Outpatient Clinical Care for Adults With ADHD? Analysis of Healthcare Claims by Types of Providers Among Private Insurance and Medicaid Enrollees, 2021.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize provider types delivering outpatient care overall and through telehealth to U.S. adults with ADHD. METHOD: Using employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) and Medicaid claims, we identified enrollees aged 18 to 64 years who received outpatient care for ADHD in 2021. Billing provider codes were used to tabulate the percentage of enrollees receiving ADHD care from 10 provider types overall and through telehealth. RESULTS: Family practice physicians, psychiatrists, and nurse practitioners/psychiatric nurses were the most common providers for adults with ESI, although the distribution of provider types varied across states. Lower percentages of adults with Medicaid received ADHD care from physicians. Approximately half of adults receiving outpatient ADHD care received ADHD care by telehealth. CONCLUSION: Results may inform the development of clinical guidelines for adult ADHD and identify audiences for guideline dissemination and education planning.

The Utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in Predicting Mental Disorders in the Project to Learn About Youth-Mental Health.

We examined the predictive utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BASC-2-BESS) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in identifying students with a mental disorder. Data were collected in a two-stage study over 34 months with kindergarten-12th grade (K-12) students (aged 5-19 years) in four U.S. school districts. In Stage 1, teachers completed the BASC-2-BESS and the SDQ. In Stage 2, parents of 1,054 children completed a structured diagnostic interview to determine presence of a mental disorder. Results suggest that teacher versions of the BASC-2-BESS and SDQ have modest utility in identifying children meeting criteria for a mental disorder based on parent report. Area Under the Curve (AUC) statistics representing prediction of any externalizing disorder (.73 for both measures) were higher than the AUCs predicting any internalizing disorder (.58 for both measures). Findings can inform the use of teacher report in mental health screening, specifically the selection of measures when implementing screening procedures.

Mental health in undergraduate students several months into the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To compare mental health indicators among undergraduates in Fall 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and Fall 2020, when many students returned to campus amidst restrictions on in-person contact. PARTICIPANTS: Analyses included 26,881 undergraduate students, aged 18-24, from 70 U.S. institutions. METHODS: Students completed the National College Health Assessment-III survey in Fall 2019 or Fall 2020. RESULTS: The prevalences of high stress, loneliness, a low flourishing score, and serious psychological distress increased in 2020 compared to 2019. Serious psychological distress increased substantially in 2020 among students not living with family (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR)=1.36, 95% CI 1.29-1.45) but not among students living with family (aPR = 1.09, 95% CI 0.95-1.26). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest prevalences of several indicators of poor mental health were elevated among U.S. undergraduates several months into the pandemic. The pandemic may have had greater impact on mental health among students not living with family.

Prevalence of diagnosed depression, anxiety, and ADHD among youth with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus.

We examined the prevalence of diagnosed depression, anxiety, and ADHD among youth by diabetes type, insurance type, and race/ethnicity. These mental disorders were more prevalent among youth with diabetes, particularly those with type 2 diabetes, with non-Hispanic White youth with Medicaid and diabetes having a higher prevalence than other races/ethnicities.

Short Sleep Duration: Children's Mental, Behavioral, and Developmental Disorders and Demographic, Neighborhood, and Family Context in a Nationally Representative Sample, 2016-2019.

INTRODUCTION: Many children and adolescents experience insufficient sleep, which poses risks for their short- and long-term health and development. This study examined the concurrent associations of contextual factors, including child, demographic, neighborhood, and family factors, with short sleep duration. METHODS: We combined data on children aged 3 to 17 years from the 2016-2019 National Survey of Children's Health (N = 112,925) to examine the association of parent-reported child short sleep duration (ages 3-5 y, <10 h; 6-12 y, <9 h; 13-17 y, <8 h) with mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders (MBDDs); selected physical health conditions; and demographic, neighborhood, and family factors. RESULTS: Overall, 34.7% of children experienced short sleep duration. The prevalence was highest among children aged 6 to 12 years (37.5%); children from racial and ethnic minority groups, especially non-Hispanic Black children (50.0%); children from low-income households (44.9%); children with an MBDD (39.6%); children experiencing negative neighborhood factors (poor conditions and lack of safety, support, and amenities, 36.5%); and family factors such as inconsistent bedtime (57.3%), poor parental mental (47.5%) and physical health (46.0%), and adverse childhood experiences (44.1%). The associations between sleep and demographic, neighborhood, and family factors, and MBDD remained significant after controlling for all other factors. CONCLUSION: This study identified several individual, family, and community factors that may contribute to children's short sleep duration and can be targeted to improve healthy development, particularly among children with an MBDD, from households with low socioeconomic status, or from racial and ethnic minority groups who are at increased risk for short sleep duration.

Brief youth self-report screener for tics: Can a subscale of the Motor tic, Obsession and compulsion, and Vocal tic Evaluation Survey (MOVES) identify tic disorders in youth?

Tics are unwanted, repetitive movements and sounds that frequently present during childhood. They are typically brief and purposeless, but can create significant distress for individuals, and often co-occur with other neuropsychiatric conditions. Thus, early identification of tics is warranted. Unfortunately, tics are often misdiagnosed, and because tics may wax and wane, identification can be difficult, especially in the context of routine clinical visits. There are limited tools that can be used to reliably identify tics in clinical practice, especially in non-specialty settings. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the performance of the Motor tic, Obsession and compulsion, and Vocal tic Evaluation Survey (MOVES), a self-report scale with some support as a screening tool. In addition, the performance of a subset of questions (the MOVES-6) was evaluated for rapid screening. Participants were recruited across two study sites and included children and adolescents diagnosed with Tourette syndrome (n = 151) or another persistent tic disorder (n = 10) and community controls (n = 74). Results suggest both the MOVES and the MOVES-6 have high sensitivity (90% and 88%, respectively) and at least acceptable specificity (77% and 86%, respectively) compared with expert assessment of tic disorders, suggesting that both versions can identify tic disorders without high proportions of false negatives. Both versions were highly sensitive with acceptable specificity regardless of sex, race/ethnicity, and age. The MOVES and MOVES-6 show promise as a screener for tics or tic disorders, but additional research is needed, particularly in a general population setting.

Trends in Stimulant Prescription Fills Among Commercially Insured Children and Adults - United States, 2016-2021.

Prescription stimulant use, primarily for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has increased among adults in the United States during recent decades, while remaining stable or declining among children and adolescents (1,2). MarketScan commercial claims data were analyzed to describe trends in prescription stimulant fills before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2016-2021) by calculating annual percentages of enrollees aged 5-64 years in employer-sponsored health plans who had one or more prescription stimulant fills overall and by sex and age group. Overall, the percentage of enrollees with one or more prescription stimulant fills increased from 3.6% in 2016 to 4.1% in 2021. The percentages of females aged 15-44 years and males aged 25-44 years with prescription stimulant fills increased by more than 10% during 2020-2021. Future evaluation could determine if policy and health system reimbursement changes enacted during the pandemic contributed to the increase in stimulant prescriptions. Stimulants can offer substantial benefits for persons with ADHD, but also pose potential harms, including adverse effects, medication interactions, diversion and misuse, and overdoses. Well-established clinical guidelines exist for ADHD care, but only for children and adolescents* (3); clinical practice guidelines for adult ADHD could help adults also receive accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatment.

Surveillance of ADHD Among Children in the United States: Validity and Reliability of Parent Report of Provider Diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the appropriateness of parent-reported diagnosis of ADHD as a surveillance tool. METHOD: We assessed agreement over time and concordance of parent-reported diagnosis against Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-based criteria. We compared concordance of diagnosis and DSM-based criteria by child characteristics, including treatment. RESULTS: Among parents who reported their child had ADHD, 95.7% reported it again 2 years later. Comparing diagnosis with DSM-based criteria, specificity and negative predictive value were high, sensitivity was moderate, and positive predictive value was low. Most children with an ADHD diagnosis who did not meet DSM-based criteria met sub-threshold criteria or took medication for ADHD. Concordance differed by child characteristics and treatment. CONCLUSION: Parent-reported diagnosed ADHD is reliable over time. Although differences in parent-reported diagnosis and DSM-based criteria were noted, these may reflect children with milder symptoms or treated ADHD. Parent-report of child ADHD ever diagnosis may be a good single-item indicator for prevalence.

Stability of mental disorder prevalence estimates among school-aged children and adolescents: findings from the community-based project to learn about youth-mental health (PLAY-MH) and replication-PLAY-MH (Re-PLAY-MH), 2014-2017.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the stability over time of prevalence estimates of mental disorders among school-aged children from the same community. METHODS: We compared screening status and weighted prevalence of selected mental disorders from the two-stage school-based South Carolina Project to Learn About Youth-Mental Health (Time 1) and its replication study (Time 2) conducted between 2014 and 2017. During stage 1, two teacher screeners were used to group students into high or low risk for a mental disorder. During stage 2, parents of selected students completed a structured diagnostic interview to assess whether their child met criteria for specific disorders. RESULTS: For stage 1, 19.9% of students screened as high risk for a mental disorder at Time 2 compared to 17.8% at Time 1. Among students included at both timepoints, 9.1% screened as high risk at both timepoints while screening status changed for 20.7%. The overall prevalence of included mental disorders was approximately 18% at both time points There were no differences (P-values >.05) in prevalence of individual mental disorders between Time 1 (range:0.3%-6.7%) and Time 2 (range:1.2%-7.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Study findings demonstrate that similar methodology yielded similar prevalence estimates of mental disorders and can inform community-level planning for improving mental health in children.

Estimating the number of people with Tourette syndrome and persistent tic disorder in the United States.

Estimates of the number of people in the U.S. with Tourette syndrome or other persistent tic disorders can inform service provision planning. Based on available prevalence estimates applied to 2020 population data from the U.S. Census, we estimated that 350,000-450,000 U.S. children and adults have Tourette syndrome and about one million have other persistent tic disorders. Variation across studies makes estimating the total number of people in the United States affected by these disorders challenging. More precise measurement could ensure that prevalence estimates accurately reflect all who are impacted by these disorders and who could benefit from evidence-based services.

State-Level Estimates of the Prevalence of Parent-Reported ADHD Diagnosis and Treatment Among U.S. Children and Adolescents, 2016 to 2019.

OBJECTIVE: To provide state-level estimates of diagnosed ADHD and associated treatment among children in the United States in 2016 to 2019. METHOD: This study used the National Survey of Children's Health to produce national and state-level estimates of lifetime diagnosis and current ADHD among all children aged 3 to 17 years (n=114,476), and national and state-level estimates of medication and behavioral treatment use among children with current ADHD. RESULTS: The state-level estimates of diagnosed ADHD ranged from 6.1% to 16.3%. Among children with current ADHD, state-level estimates of ADHD medication usage ranged from 37.8% to 81.4%, and state-level estimates of behavioral treatment ranged from 38.8% to 61.8%. CONCLUSION: There was substantial state-level variation for indicators of ADHD diagnosis and associated treatment. These state-level results can be used by policymakers, public health practitioners, health care providers, and other stakeholders to help address the service needs of children with ADHD in their states.

Factors Associated With Bullying Victimization and Bullying Perpetration in Children and Adolescents With ADHD: 2016 to 2017 National Survey of Children's Health.

OBJECTIVE: To identify characteristics associated with bullying involvement in pediatric ADHD. METHODS: Data from the 2016 to 2017 National Survey of Children's Health for children aged 6 to 17 years with ADHD were evaluated to assess the association between parent-reported bullying victimization or perpetration and the following potential predictors: demographic characteristics, family factors, school factors, and child conditions/behaviors. RESULTS: Among children with ADHD, 46.9% were bullying victims and 16.2% were perpetrators. Factors associated with victimization included having family financial strain, developmental delay or intellectual disability, friendship difficulties, and school reports about problems. Factors linked to perpetration included being male, receiving government assistance, lack of school engagement, school reports about problems, and having difficulties with friendships, staying calm, and arguing. CONCLUSIONS: Children with ADHD frequently were bullying victims and sometimes bullying perpetrators. Factors related to family financial strain, developmental disabilities, emotional regulation, peer relationships, and school functioning may help to identify risk for bullying and opportunities for anti-bullying interventions.

Mental Health Surveillance Among Children - United States, 2013-2019.

Mental health encompasses a range of mental, emotional, social, and behavioral functioning and occurs along a continuum from good to poor. Previous research has documented that mental health among children and adolescents is associated with immediate and long-term physical health and chronic disease, health risk behaviors, social relationships, education, and employment. Public health surveillance of children's mental health can be used to monitor trends in prevalence across populations, increase knowledge about demographic and geographic differences, and support decision-making about prevention and intervention. Numerous federal data systems collect data on various indicators of children's mental health, particularly mental disorders. The 2013-2019 data from these data systems show that mental disorders begin in early childhood and affect children with a range of sociodemographic characteristics. During this period, the most prevalent disorders diagnosed among U.S. children and adolescents aged 3-17 years were attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and anxiety, each affecting approximately one in 11 (9.4%-9.8%) children. Among children and adolescents aged 12-17 years, one fifth (20.9%) had ever experienced a major depressive episode. Among high school students in 2019, 36.7% reported persistently feeling sad or hopeless in the past year, and 18.8% had seriously considered attempting suicide. Approximately seven in 100,000 persons aged 10-19 years died by suicide in 2018 and 2019. Among children and adolescents aged 3-17 years, 9.6%-10.1% had received mental health services, and 7.8% of all children and adolescents aged 3-17 years had taken medication for mental health problems during the past year, based on parent report. Approximately one in four children and adolescents aged 12-17 years reported having received mental health services during the past year. In federal data systems, data on positive indicators of mental health (e.g., resilience) are limited. Although no comprehensive surveillance system for children's mental health exists and no single indicator can be used to define the mental health of children or to identify the overall number of children with mental disorders, these data confirm that mental disorders among children continue to be a substantial public health concern. These findings can be used by public health professionals, health care providers, state health officials, policymakers, and educators to understand the prevalence of specific mental disorders and other indicators of mental health and the challenges related to mental health surveillance.

Academic, Interpersonal, Recreational, and Family Impairment in Children with Tourette Syndrome and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

This study describes impairment in academic, interpersonal, recreational, and family financial or occupational domains across children in three mutually exclusive diagnostic groups: ever diagnosed with Tourette syndrome (TS), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and both disorders. In 2014, parents reported on impairment and diagnostic status of children aged 4-17 years (n = 3014). Weighted analysis and pairwise t-tests showed more children with ADHD (with or without TS) experienced impairment in overall school performance, writing, and mathematics, relative to children with TS but not ADHD. More children with TS and ADHD had problematic handwriting relative to children with ADHD but not TS. More children with TS and ADHD had problematic interpersonal relationships relative to those with ADHD but not TS. Children with TS and ADHD had higher mean impairment across domains than children with either TS or ADHD. Findings suggest assessing disorder-specific contributions to impairment could inform targeted interventions for TS and ADHD.

Behavioral and Socioemotional Outcomes of the Legacy for Children™ Randomized Control Trial to Promote Healthy Development of Children Living in Poverty, 4 to 6 Years Postintervention.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article was to assess the impact on behavioral and socioemotional development, 4 to 6 years postintervention (depending on the curriculum), of Legacy for Children™, a public health approach to improve child developmental outcomes among families living in poverty. METHODS: Mothers who were recruited prenatally or at the time of childbirth participated in a set of Legacy parallel design randomized control trials between 2001 and 2009 in Miami, Florida, or Los Angeles, California. Of the initial 574 mother-child dyads, 364 completed at least 1 behavioral or socioemotional outcome measure at the third-grade follow-up. Intention-to-treat analyses compared Legacy and comparison groups on behavioral and socioemotional outcomes. RESULTS: Children of Legacy mothers in Los Angeles were at lower risk for externalizing behaviors and poor adaptive skills than children whose mothers did not participate in the intervention. No significant outcome differences by group assignment were found in Miami. CONCLUSION: Group-based positive parenting interventions such as Legacy may have a sustained impact on children's behavioral and socioemotional development several years after intervention completion.

Heterogeneity in Autism Spectrum Disorder Case-Finding Algorithms in United States Health Administrative Database Analyses.

Strengthening systems of care to meet the needs of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is of growing importance. Administrative data provide advantages for research and planning purposes, including large sample sizes and the ability to identify enrollment in insurance coverage and service utilization of individuals with ASD. Researchers have employed varying strategies to identify individuals with ASD in administrative data. Differences in these strategies can limit the comparability of results across studies. This review describes implications of the varying strategies that have been employed to identify individuals with ASD in US claims databases, with consideration of the strengths and limitations of each approach.

Bullying Victimization and Perpetration Among US Children with and Without Tourette Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Tourette syndrome (TS) and co-occurring mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders (MBDDs) have been shown to affect peer relationships. This study provides nationally representative estimates of diagnosed TS prevalence and the prevalence of parent-reported bullying victimization and perpetration among US children with and without TS. METHODS: This study included 2016-2017 National Survey of Children's Health data on children aged 6 to 17 years (N = 51,001) with parent-reported responses about TS diagnosis and their child's experiences with bullying victimization and perpetration. We calculated weighted prevalence estimates of diagnosed TS and of bullying indicators among children ever diagnosed with TS compared with peers without TS. We conducted a logistic regression analysis to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios of bullying involvement by TS status, controlling for age, sex, and co-occurring MBDDs. RESULTS: By parent report, 0.3% of US children had ever received a diagnosis of TS; most children with a TS diagnosis (83.2%) had a co-occurring MBDD. Among children with TS, 56.1% experienced bullying victimization, 20.7% experienced bullying perpetration, and 15.9% experienced both, compared with 21.6%, 6.0%, and 4.1% for children without TS, respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, and co-occurring MBDDs, only the association between TS and bullying victimization remained statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Compared with children without TS, children with TS overall experience more bullying victimization and perpetration. Health care professionals treating children with TS could assess challenges with peer relationships and co-occurring disorders to provide targeted support and referral.