Hyperactivity Disorders of Childhood

Hyperactivity Disorders of Childhood

S Sandberg, editor

New York: Cambridge University Press; 517 p

This book reveals some of the differences in the approach to diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) between the clinicians and researchers from Europe and those from the United States. The Australian and Canadian contributors seem to bridge these different approaches. The book is edited by a British psychiatrist from the Royal London Hospital. She has worked with E Taylor, who has spent some of his time in the United States.

The book has 13 chapters, of which 3 very good ones are written by the editor with some of her colleagues. One of these is on the historical development of the diagnosis, etiology, and treatment of ADHD, 1 on its clinical aspects, and another on the psychosocial contributions to the hyperactive child. Other chapters include the epidemiology, developmental aspects, sex differences, and cross-cultural aspects of hyperactive children and children with associated conditions such as conduct disorders and reading disability. There are 3 excellent chapters: 1 on the treatment of ADHD by the Canadians Schachar, Tannock, and Cunningham, 1 on outcomes by Swedish researchers Gilberg and Hellgren, and 1 on biological aspects by Tagade and Takagi. Overall, the book has a rich international flavor. Only 1 chapter (on the developmental aspects of ADHD) was rather densely written; its author did not indicate what she felt were the most important research findings on this subject, but rather gave a long list of findings. Further, a citation in this chapter (p 153) to Biederman, Newcord, and Sprich (1990) is not listed in the reference section, which is somewhat irksome. In addition, some of the developmental findings are covered in an earlier chapter on the clinical aspects of ADHD.

In contrast, the chapter on the biological aspects was clear and interesting, and that on gender differences by Heppinstrall and Taylor showed some fascinating results “which may well give clues to the etiology of the disorder” (p 344). They suggest that girls do not have an overrepresentation of hyperactivity in their families and that mild degrees of hyperactive behaviour in girls should not be “given undue weight as peer relationship impairment and educational failures may be more important targets for therapy.”

It was particularly useful to find all the epidemiological studies and the basic investigations on attention reviewed in 1 place. The book was equally comprehensive in its review of several other topics, which makes it an invaluable resource text.

In the preface, the editor states that this is the 2nd of a monograph series “aimed at practitioners in child and adolescent mental health services and researchers in development and clinical neuroscience” and that “it is intended that there should be detailed consideration of topics less commonly found in standard texts” (p xix). This book accomplishes these goals admirably. It is interesting, different, and well presented, and for the most part, the contributions are of an evenly high standard. I would strongly recommend it for clinicians and researchers who deal with children who have behavior disorders.