Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adulthood and Adolescence with your manuscripts to deepen the knowledge on this topic.

Attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood with a prevalence ranging between 5 and 7%. This disorder is more frequent in males, with a ratio of 2:1, which tends to balance out in adulthood. Females with ADHD mainly manifest inattentive symptoms and tardive clinical manifestation, even if this disorder can be misdiagnosed in females. Up to  65% of subjects can present a persisting ADHD into adulthood with poor quality of life and socio-economic status, low probability of stable marriage and long-term employment, and a higher probability of hospitalization, forensic issues, marginality, and mortality.

The ADHD etiology is not clearly established, and many conditions may represent potential risk factors: genetic heritability, neuroanatomical abnormalities, altered dopamine and serotonin pathway, neurophysiology dysfunction of fronto-striatal structures.

ADHD impulse control and attention deficits foster the impairment of many social skills resulting in educational issues (school dropouts and/or failures, discipline problems, etc.), antisocial behaviour, substance use, incidents, unemployment, and occupational and relational instability.

In childhood and adolescence, ADHD is often associated with other neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and specific learning difficulties (dyslexia and dyspraxia) as well as many psychiatric disorders including oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder, anxiety and depressive disorders, and substance abuse disorders which can further impair social adjustment and increase the complexity of treatments. Moreover, individuals with ADHD present a higher mortality rate compared to the rest of the population.

Diagnosis of ADHD is generally based on clinical observation, anamnesis from multiple sources (parents, teachers), and  semi-structured interviews and standardized questionnaires. In the case of adult subjects, the history of evolution of symptoms and the level of functioning during adolescence represent important information to detect ADHD manifestations.

ADHD treatments can reduce both immediate and long-term negative clinical and social outcomes. Therefore, most guidelines recommend accurate assessment and treatment; however, up until now, ADHD diagnosis and treatment, especially in adults are often limited by poor awareness or training in this disorder.

This Special Issue can contribute to the provision of insight in the diagnosis and management of ADHD and its comorbid disorders as well as in the neurobiology of ADHD.

Dr. Rosaria Di Lorenzo
Dr. Tommaso Filippini
Dr. Paola Ferri
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicina is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Adult ADHD diagnosis
• Adult ADHD diagnosis management
• ADHD neurobiology
• ADHD etiology
• Adult ADHD outcome
• ADHD comorbidities
• ADHD treatment response