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ADHD in Adults: What the Science Says

ADHD in Adults: What the Science Says
By Russell A. Barkley PhD ABPP ABCN, Kevin R. Murphy PhD, Mariellen Fischer PhD

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Product Description

Providing a new perspective on ADHD in adults, this compelling book analyzes findings from two major studies directed by leading authority Russell A. Barkley. Groundbreaking information is presented on the significant impairments produced by the disorder across major functional domains and life activities, including educational outcomes, work, relationships, health behaviors, and mental health. Thoughtfully considering the treatment implications of these findings, the book also demonstrates that existing diagnostic criteria do not accurately reflect the way ADHD is experienced by adults, and points the way toward developing better criteria that center on executive function deficits. Accessible tables, figures, and sidebars encapsulate the study results and offer detailed descriptions of the methods used.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #400311 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-10-19
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 489 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This energetic and informative book tackles head-on the knotty issue of what ADHD in adults really means. It includes helpful answers to such vital problems as what modifications to diagnostic criteria are appropriate, and what are the inferential biases to which clinicians are prone when seeing self-referred cases in their offices. This is the most definitive work to date on the difficult task of generalizing from children with ADHD to adults with ADHD. The authors break new ground in addressing these issues with comprehensive data from their own well-regarded samples. This timely book thus provides a fresh and needed perspective to help resolve longstanding difficulties in understanding ADHD in adults. It will be helpful to DSM-V committee deliberations and to those planning future scientific studies, as well as to clinicians needing a clearer picture of what to expect in adults with ADHD."--Joel T. Nigg, PhD, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University

"A veritable tour de force. This work will be equally useful to researchers seeking innovative hypotheses about ADHD, to clinicians seeking to understand the course of ADHD into adulthood, and to students at all levels of training. Readers have access to a unified and systematic view of the results from two notable, methodologically rigorous research studies. The book addresses a wide range of clinically urgent issues, such as psychiatric comorbidity, drug use, life impairments, educational attainment, and neuropsychological impairment. The discussions of diagnostic criteria not only provide clinically useful information for adult assessment, but also should strongly influence the evolution of the DSM-V."--Stephen V. Faraone, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Director, Medical Genetics Research; and Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research, SUNY Upstate Medical University

"The single best source of scientific information on adult ADHD available to date. The results of two major research investigations are thoroughly reviewed to explicate important similarities and differences between children with ADHD followed into adulthood and individuals first referred for ADHD symptoms as adults. This is the first text to make this important and clinically relevant distinction. It is sure to be an indispensable resource for both clinicians and researchers. In addition, graduate students in clinical psychology, counseling, social work, and school psychology will find this text helpful both for the data it provides about adult ADHD and for its insights into how to establish a coherent research agenda."--George J. DuPaul, PhD, Department of Education and Human Services, Lehigh University



"Echoes and expands on the findings of several prior investigations, further establishing clear evidence that ADHD has wide-ranging implications for health and well-being. Strengths and novel aspects of the studies presented include employment of a broad range of assessments, comparison of two ADHD populations, use of community and clinical control subjects, and use of multiple informants. The text is enriched by introduction to prior related work, discussion of nosological issues, clear explanation of findings, and recapitulations of these findings in chapter highlights. The publication of this work and its implications for identification of ADHD in adulthood are timely given DSM-V criteria are under consideration. Clinicians and researchers wishing to understand the adult extension of this childhood-defined disorder and explore means of optimally identifying it in adulthood will benefit greatly from studying this rich and remarkable volume."--Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

"In impressive and straightforward style, reviews a wealth of data on comorbid conditions and treatment considerations. For the first time ever, readers are able to gain an empirically derived, comprehensive contrast of how ADHD is uniquely exhibited, categorized, and treated in adulthood versus childhood....An invaluable synthesis of data and treatment implications. As an added bonus, the authors have graciously decided to provide access to the data to any scientist who purchases the text....The integrative, rigorous focus on research and clinical practice that defines ADHD in Adults: What the Science Says makes it a foundational addition to the literature. The writing style is clear, concise, and compelling, and the layout of the text effectively integrates chapter summaries and continuity of a variety of topic areas. Clinicians in particular may appreciate the focus on treatment strategies and will find some similarities with other empirically derived treatment recommendations....The quality and magnitude of ADHD in Adults: What the Science Says can uniquely inform future nosology and research on ADHD in adulthood. Clinicians, researchers, graduate students, and the educated lay public will feel that they have at once found both an authoritative reference on ADHD in adulthood and a text that actually addresses the common experiences of many adults with ADHD."--APA PsycCRITIQUES

 
"Rigorous, comprehensive, informative, and impressive are words that come to mind after reading this book. This effort rewarded me with a clear understanding of the issues involved in identification of patients with adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the serious implications of the disorder in regard to life's functional domains, and a conceptualization of the core cognitive issues underlying the condition....I appreciated the authoritative tone throughout the work. These authors' extensive involvement in the relatively under researched field of adult ADHD was apparent. The literature reviews in each chapter were extensive and informative. The study data presentations provided information that often addressed noted gaps in the literature. The writing is clear and the data presentation well organized....I would strongly recommend this work to those routinely involved in the assessment and treatment of patients with adult ADHD, as well as to those actively involved in or planning research activities with this patient population. For the clinician who encounters these patients less frequently, the concluding chapter and the conclusions of chapters of interest would provide excellent information and guidance. The authors succeed splendidly in their effort to communicate the severity of adult ADHD and to advance concepts about its nature and ideas of addressing its related impairments."--Psychiatric Services
 
"From a leading ADHD researcher, this book is thoughtful, comprehensive, and a top-rank reference. It is a substantial resource for clinicians who want to understand what is currently known about adult ADHD and where the science is likely to be heading in the future. I recommend it most highly."--Lenard Adler, MD, Departments of Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine
 
"This book will greatly enhance the practice of any clinician, regardless of the age of the patient/client ADHD population. The book provides details of a fascinating longitudinal study, and it is beneficial reading for any practitioner."--Metapsychology Online Reviews
 
"Although some topics are quite technical, the narrative is accessible, and statistical analyses are generally relegated to tables so as not to interrupt the flow....This book will be the definitive work on the subject for some time....Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals."--Choice Reviews
 
"This text demonstrates the significant ongoing disadvantage of ADHD to adults, as well as to children. Yet, it also provides a useful discussion of treatment and management options. Comprising fourteen chapters, an excellent index and eighteen pages of references, it is a worthy contender for placement in academic collections related to education, psychology, and psychiatry."--Australian Journal of Dyslexia and Specific Learning Difficulties
 
"This book is extraordinarily comprehensive....A good resource for all those interested in the complexities of diagnosing and treating ADHD."--Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic
 
"Remarkable....[It] will be an enormous resource for years to come. In an area still fraught with so much misunderstanding and lack of awareness, not just among the general public but also among medical and mental health professionals, the authors have done all of us a great service--clinicians, researchers, and consumers alike....This volume should set the standard for what we know for the foreseeable future."--Journal of Attention Disorders

About the Author

Russell A. Barkley, PhD, ABPP, is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina and Research Professor of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. He was previously Director of Psychology and Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Barkley has published extensively on ADHD and has received numerous awards for his scientific and clinical contributions. He served as the principal investigator on the two large research projects reported in this volume.

 

Kevin R. Murphy, PhD, is founder and Director of the Adult ADHD Clinic of Central Massachusetts in Northborough. He was previously Director of the Adult ADHD Clinic and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He has published extensively on adults with ADHD and consults widely on the clinical diagnosis and management of ADHD in adults. Dr. Murphy served as the coinvestigator on the research study of clinic-referred adults with ADHD reported in this volume and conducted the clinical evaluations of all of the adults in that project.

 

Mariellen Fischer, PhD, is a pediatric neuropsychologist and Professor in the Division of Neuropsychology, Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Fischer has published numerous articles on ADHD, developmental psychopathology, and neuropsychology. She and Dr. Barkley have reported the earlier results of the Milwaukee longitudinal study of hyperactive children, the adult outcome of which is presented in this book. Dr. Fischer served as coinvestigator and the Milwaukee site principal investigator on the longitudinal study reported in this volume.

Customer Reviews

A Tour de Force5
The previous reviewer, Jon, said it all. Adult ADHD is real. You will learn all you need to know about it by reading this amazing book, culminating decades of rigorous study and clinical expertise.

Researchers such as authors Russell Barkley, Mariellen Fischer, and Kevin Murphy are the reliable anchors in a storm-tossed sea of ignorance, lassitude, indifference, and outright chicanery and propagandizing regarding adult ADHD.

Their studies are stunning for their elegant design, careful execution, and solid results. The text is well-written and profound, even to non-clinicians. When it comes to interpreting certain human behaviors, it will turn all your paradigms upside down and then inside out.

I cannot imagine any physician or therapist in this country--no matter what the specialty--not reading this book very carefully. Because untreated ADHD cuts across too many issues for any healthcare provider to remain unaware. These issues include higher risk of traffic and on-the-job accidents, substance use, and poor health habits that can lead to the chronic diseases that so afflict this country, including obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.

ADHD is thought to affect from 10 to 30 million adults in the U.S. alone, depending on how broadly the criteria are applied. Yet only 10 percent of that lower figure is diagnosed--and even fewer in treatment.

Too often, ADHD is misdiagnosed as depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, borderline personality disorder, substance use disorder, attachment disorder, and the list of personality disorders goes on--most of which carry poor prognoses. Consequently, too many people suffer in frustration, piled on with moral judgments or plied with the wrong medications or therapeutic interventions that often make ADHD worse.

It's time to join the 21st Century regarding a brain condition that affects so many people, and this book, in my opinion, leads the way.

Gina Pera

State of the art in ADHD science5
Dr. Barkley's newest book offers the professional or the well educated lay reader an in depth review of the latest empirical findings on ADHD in adults. It is not a self help book although it may be helpful to a well informed ADHD patient or family member. Two major longitudinal research projects form the core of the book and each examines how this disorder looks as adolescents move into adulthood. Each chapter is followed by an executive summary of the major points. For the reader not steeped in the nuances of research projects this is necessary to avoid getting lost in the detailed findings. The final chapter also nicely summarizes the implications of the research for our best current theoretical model of the disorder and for its treatment. I am a clinical psychologist and Dr. Barkley's body of work in the area of ADHD is an example of what is best in clinical psychology. This work is another in a long series of notable achievements.

The "Holy Grail" has arrived!5
This new book by authors Barkley, Murphy, and Fischer has, for the first time, given me the confidence to believe that, for adults with ADHD, a new day has dawned, a new light is shining, and the thick fog of shame may, over time, be blown away.

The door has finally slammed shut for the skeptics, the uninformed, the misinformed, the mal-intended, and the ignorant health care professionals and "experts" who, unless they buy a copy of this book and study its contents, will find that their days treating adults with ADHD are numbered.

I appreciate this amazing resource, and feel the utmost respect for the three authors who have devoted their lives and considerable talents and skills to not only wade through and organize the dark morass of books, clinical studies, scientific papers, surveys, interviews, and journals that already existed, but to add to this mix their own ground-breaking and desperately needed perspective and conclusions regarding the incredibly important and massively misunderstood subject of adult ADHD. Thank you. Jon Teger