Inattentive ADHD, Genes the Environment and School Success

Inattentive ADHD, Genes the Environment and School Success

A twin study published in the Journal Psychological Science has found
that while genetics and the environment both play a role in the
symptoms of Inattentive ADHD and Hyperactive ADHD, School and home ADHD success is
closely tied to both genetics and environmental influences. The
researchers of this study concluded that reading achievement is more
closely related to our genetics and math achievement is more likely to
be the result of environmental influences such as home and classroom

Inattentive ADHD and School Success

interventions.

What the researchers, who looked at the results of this large twin
study, found was that Inattentive ADHD (as well as the other ADHD
subtypes) and reading and math success are all affected by a group of
genes but that there are some individual genes are only related to
either math success, reading success, Inattentive ADHD behavior or
Hyperactive ADHD behavior. The most interesting finding however was
that, for math, the environment played a stronger role in success than
did genetics.

The researchers of this study do not yet understand what environmental
influences in the classroom or at home will lead to ADHD school
success or to the most positive results in math scores but some ADHD
researchers believe that working memory training can greatly improve
all three of these outcomes.

The fact that home and classroom interventions have a large impact on
math achievement and ADHD school success is an important finding from
this study. Most studies have concluded that it is mostly ADHD
medication that impacts school achievement. These same studies have
concluded that ADHD behavioral interventions help only in combination with
medication.

Studies looking at home and classroom interventions that improve ADHD
school success are ongoing. The studies performed thus far on working
memory training programs have shown promise especially for adults and
children with Inattentive ADHD.

There are other ongoing studies looking at school achievement, school
success and interventions such as parent behavior-management training,
cognitive skills training, working memory and executive function
training, reading and math intensive training, home visiting,
mentoring, and classroom curriculum intervention. These and other
studies will advise us on what we can do at home and at school to
better help kids who are struggling with Inattentive ADHD, Combined
type ADHD and Hyperactive/Impulsive ADHD.



S. A. Hart, S. A. Petrill, E. Willcutt, L. A. Thompson, C.
Schatschneider, K. Deater-Deckard, L. E. Cutting. Exploring How
Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Are Related to
Reading and Mathematics Performance: General Genes, General
Environments. Psychological Science, 2010; 21AD