Differential Diagnosis
This disorder can cause concentration problems, restlessness, and distractibility due to excessive worry, making it a common ADHD differential.
What is GAD?
This executive function refers to getting started on tasks
What is task initiation?
What is the difference between ADHD symptoms and ADHD diagnosis?
ADHD is among the most highly heritable psychiatric conditions, with heritability estimates generally around this percentage.
What is approximately 70–80%?
True or false: Among known risk factors for ADHD, family history is considered one of the strongest predictors of this diagnosis.
What is True?
What disorder is most likely to produce attentional difficulties secondary to hypervigilance?
What is PTSD?
This executive function allows us to keep information in mind while working with it
What is working memory?
A patient reports distractibility only during periods of severe anxiety. What diagnostic question should be asked next?
What is whether attention problems persist outside anxiety episodes?
True or False: There is a single "ADHD gene" responsible for the disorder.
What is False?
This developmental factor is consistently associated with elevated ADHD risk.
What is prematurity/preterm birth?
"One key feature that helps distinguish bipolar disorder from ADHD is that bipolar symptoms are generally ______ rather than lifelong and pervasive."
What is episodic?
A patient repeatedly underestimates how long projects will take. Which executive function is likely involved?
What is planning/time management?
What is they can mimic ADHD symptoms?
ADHD is considered this type of genetic condition, meaning many genes each contribute a small amount of risk.
What is polygenic?
Low ______ weight is a well-established risk factor for ADHD.
What is birth?
Name three conditions that commonly inflate ADHD self-report measures
What are anxiety, depression, PTSD, ASD, substance use, bipolar disorder, (etc)?
What executive function is most involved when someone blurts out an answer before hearing the whole question?
What is inhibition?
Why should clinicians be cautious about interpreting normal neuropsychological test performance as evidence against ADHD?
What is because many individuals with ADHD perform normally in structured testing environments?
Approximately what percentage of children with a parent who has ADHD will also develop ADHD?
What is approximately 40–60%?
Exposure to high levels of this heavy metal has been associated with increased ADHD symptoms.
What is lead?
A patient reports sleeping only 3–4 hours per night for a week. What follow-up question may be most useful in differentiating ADHD-related sleep loss from a hypomanic/manic episode?
What is "Did you feel tired and miss the sleep the next day?"
Why might someone with ADHD complete a project at the last minute despite months of procrastination?
What is increased motivation/arousal created by urgency or deadlines?
A patient reports lifelong symptoms, clear impairment, elevated rating scales, normal cognitive testing, and normal CPT results. What should drive diagnostic conclusions?
What is the overall clinical picture?
Identical twins share nearly all of their DNA, yet ADHD is not 100% concordant. This finding suggests a role for what?
What are environmental and/or epigenetic influences?
True or False: Most children exposed to known ADHD risk factors develop ADHD.
What is false?