Abstract
Although there is limited knowledge about early signs of ADHD, deviations in motor development are suggested as a possible indicator of such early signs. The purpose of the present systematic review was to gather knowledge about motor development before three years of age in children later diagnosed with ADHD. A systematic search was completed in four research databases, and the quality of the identified studies was systematically assessed. Of 440 initial search results, only five studies met the inclusion criteria and were fully abstracted. Major methodological heterogeneity was found between the studies, and the results are pointing in various directions. One study found an association between delay in gross motor development and ADHD, while another did not. However, associations between both good early motor development as well as delayed were also found in one study. A study of premature infants showed no association between early motor development and attention problems at school age, and a study of high-risk children from a neonatal care unit found no association between abnormal general movements and later ADHD without comorbidity. The results of the studies are pointing in various directions. No firm conclusion can be drawn on early motor development in children with ADHD due to the very different results of the studies and the methodological heterogeneity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Washington
Atladottir HO, Gyllenberg D, Langridge A, Sandin S, Hansen SN, Leonard H et al (2015) The increasing prevalence of reported diagnoses of childhood psychiatric disorders: a descriptive multinational comparison. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 24(2):173–183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0553-8
Biederman J, Faraone SV (2005) Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Lancet 366(9481):237–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(05)66915-2
Butcher PR, van Braeckel K, Bouma A, Einspieler C, Stremmelaar EF, Bos AF (2009) The quality of preterm infants spontaneous movements: an early indicator of intelligence and behaviour at school age. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 50(8):920–930. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02066.x
Charach A, Carson P, Fox S, Ali MU, Beckett J, Lim CG (2013) Interventions for preschool children at high risk for ADHD: a comparative effectiveness review. Pediatrics 131(5):e1584–e1604. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2012-0974
Einspieler C, Prechtl HF (2005) Prechtl’s assessment of general movements: a diagnostic tool for the functional assessment of the young nervous system. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 11(1):61–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrdd.20051
Fliers E, Rommelse N, Vermeulen SH, Altink M, Buschgens CJ, Faraone SV, Buitelaar JK (2008) Motor coordination problems in children and adolescents with ADHD rated by parents and teachers: effects of age and gender. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 115(2):211–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-007-0827-0
Gurevitz M, Geva R, Varon M, Leitner Y (2014) Early markers in infants and toddlers for development of ADHD. J Atten Disord 18(1):14–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054712447858
Hadders-Algra M, Groothuis AMC (1999) Quality of general movements in infancy is related to neurological dysfunction, ADHD, and aggressive behaviour. Dev Med Child Neurol 41(6):381–391. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0012162299000845
Hadders-Algra M, Bouwstra H, Groen SE (2009a) Quality of general movements and psychiatric morbidity at 9 to 12 years. Early Hum Dev 85(1):1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2008.05.005
Hadders-Algra M, Bouwstra H, Groen SE (2009b) Quality of general movements and psychiatric morbidity at 9 to 12 years. Early Human Dev 85(1):1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2008.05.005
Hitzert MM, Roze E, Van Braeckel KN, Bos AF (2014) Motor development in 3-month-old healthy term-born infants is associated with cognitive and behavioural outcomes at early school age. Dev Med Child Neurol 56(9):869–876. https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.12468
Jaspers M, de Winter AF, Buitelaar JK, Verhulst FC, Reijneveld SA, Hartman CA (2013) Early childhood assessments of community pediatric professionals predict autism spectrum and attention deficit hyperactivity problems. J Abnorm Child Psychol 41(1):71–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9653-4
Jensen CM, Steinhausen HC (2015) Comorbid mental disorders in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in a large nationwide study. Atten Defic Hyperact Disord 7(1):27–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-014-0142-1
Jeyaseelan D, O’Callaghan M, Neulinger K, Shum D, Burns Y (2006) The association between early minor motor difficulties in extreme low birth weight infants and school age attentional difficulties. Early Human Dev 82(4):249–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2005.10.012
Johnson MH, Gliga T, Jones E, Charman T (2015) Annual research review: infant development, autism, and ADHD—early pathways to emerging disorders. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 56(3):228–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12328
Kadesjo B, Gillberg C (2001) The comorbidity of ADHD in the general population of Swedish school-age children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 42(4):487–492
Kaiser ML, Schoemaker MM, Albaret JM, Geuze RH (2014) What is the evidence of impaired motor skills and motor control among children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Systematic review of the literature. Res Dev Disabil 36C:338–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.09.023
Lahey BB, Pelham WE, Chronis A, Massetti G, Kipp H, Ehrhardt A, Lee SS (2006) Predictive validity of ICD-10 hyperkinetic disorder relative to DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among younger children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47(5):472–479. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01590.x
Lemcke S, Parner ET, Bjerrum M, Thomsen PH, Lauritsen MB (2016) Early development in children that are later diagnosed with disorders of attention and activity: a longitudinal study in the Danish National Birth Cohort. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 25(10):1055–1066. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-016-0825-6
McIntosh N, Helms P, Smyth R, Logan S (2008) Forfar and Arneil’s textbook of pediatrics, 7th edn. Churchill Livingstone Elsevier
Rappley MD (2005) Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. N Engl J Med 352(2):165–173. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMcp032387
Vasserman M, Bender HA, Macallister WS (2014) Motor skills development in children with inattentive versus combined subtypes of ADHD. Appl Neuropsychol Child 3(2):145–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622965.2012.759466
World HO (1993) The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders. Diagnostic criteria for research. World Health Organisation, Geneva
Acknowledgements
The project was funded by a Grant from The Central Denmark Region, Psychiatry.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
Per Hove Thomsen has received speaker’s honoraria from Shire, Novartis, and HB-Pharma within the last 3 years. He is not a member of any advisory boards nor does he hold any stocks. The other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Havmoeller, S.R., Thomsen, P.H. & Lemcke, S. The early motor development in children diagnosed with ADHD: a systematic review. ADHD Atten Def Hyp Disord 11, 233–240 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-018-0280-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-018-0280-y