1. Chang FY, Mao XZ, Khalil M, Rapport MD, Dillon A, Loo SK, Grammer JK, Lenartowicz A. Effects of Instructional Context on Neural Features of Attention during Learning Activities in Children with and without ADHD. bioRxiv. 2026.

Attention is foundational to learning, yet the extent to which features of the instructional environment differentially shape attentional engagement is not well understood. Here we leveraged mobile EEG and video-coded behavioral observation to examine attentional engagement in 6-10-year-old children with and without a diagnosis of ADHD across instructional conditions varying in delivery modality (video watching, online, in-person) and management of learning (teacher-led versus student-led). EEG measures, including alpha-band (8-12Hz) oscillations, spectral slope and offset, and behavioral measures of active engagement (AE%), passive engagement (PE%), fidgeting, off-task behavior, were examined as a function of instructional context. Attentional engagement, as indicated by higher AE%, lower alpha power, flatter spectral slope and lower offset, was greatest in studentled learning, followed by teacher-led in person learning, synchronous online learning, and asynchronous learning, respectively. Child by instructional context interactions revealed that patterns of attentional engagement were largely consistent regardless of diagnosis, with group effects observed for motor behaviors (PE%, fidgeting) but not for measures of visual attention. Similarly, age showed only main effects, whereby older children showed higher passive engagement, lower fidgeting and off-task behavior, flatter spectral slope, and lower offset. The results underscore: (i) the importance of considering environmental context, such as instructional modality and management of learning, when examining mechanisms of attention and individual differences therein, and (ii) the value of recording multiple behavioral and neural measures, as not all indices commonly assumed to reflect attention capture the same underlying processes.

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2. Chen S, He G, Zhao J. Digital behavior patterns and ADHD symptoms in late adolescents and young adults. Front Psychiatry. 2026; 17: 1968257.

BACKGROUND: Digital media use has become deeply embedded in the daily lives of late adolescents and young adults, yet less is known about how specific digital behavior patterns are associated with ADHD symptom dimensions. This study focused on three emerging digital behaviors-speed watching, fragmented information consumption, and media multitasking-and examined their associations with inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity within an ecologically informed multidomain framework encompassing demographic, perceived environmental, and family correlates. METHODS: A total of 3,418 high school and university students aged 15-25 years (M_age = 18.60, SD = 1.05; 60.56% female) participated in the study, including 1,929 high school students (56.44%) and 1,489 university students (43.56%). They completed self-report measures of ADHD symptoms, digital behavior patterns, perceived physical environment, family environment, and demographic characteristics. ADHD symptoms were assessed in two dimensions: inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. Digital behavior patterns included speed watching, fragmented information consumption, and media multitasking. Pearson correlation analyses and hierarchical regression models were conducted to examine bivariate associations and the incremental explanatory value of digital behavior patterns after accounting for demographic, perceived environmental, and family variables. RESULTS: Fragmented information consumption showed the strongest bivariate correlations with both inattention (r = 0.588) and hyperactivity-impulsivity (r = 0.488). In the hierarchical regression models, entering the digital behavior variables after the demographic, perceived environmental, and family variables accounted for an additional 22.3% of the variance in inattention and 14.5% of the variance in hyperactivity-impulsivity. Fragmented information consumption remained the strongest statistical correlate of both inattention (β = 0.379, p < 0.001) and hyperactivity-impulsivity (β = 0.256, p < 0.001), followed by media multitasking. The final models explained 44.0% and 34.9% of the variance in inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity, respectively. CONCLUSION: Among the examined ecological correlates, digital behavior patterns-particularly fragmented information consumption and media multitasking-showed the most pronounced associations with ADHD symptoms in late adolescents and young adults. These findings suggest that distinguishing among specific forms of digital engagement may provide useful behavior-specific information about ADHD symptom variation. Because total screen time was not assessed, the findings do not establish that these behaviors are more informative than overall screen exposure. Given the cross-sectional and self-report design, the findings should be interpreted as associations rather than evidence of causal effects.

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3. Chen T, Yao J, Su Y, Li J, Tan P. Correction: Serum vitamins and microelements levels and their association with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Front Mol Biosci. 2026; 13: 2008863.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2026.1786113.].

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4. Chen XN, Zhang Y, Zhang XJ, Yim C, Kam KW, Ng MPH, Ip P, Wong ICK, Zhang W, Young AL, Tham CC, Pang CP, Chen LJ, Yam JC. Anisometropia, Strabismus, and Amblyopia in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Their Comorbidity. Ophthalmol Sci. 2026; 6(11): 101406.

PURPOSE: To explore the association of anisometropia, strabismus, and amblyopia with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and their comorbidity. DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: Children aged 6-10 years in Hong Kong. METHODS: Participants underwent comprehensive ocular examinations. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and ASD diagnoses were made by qualified physicians using International Classification of Diseases 10 criteria. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The prevalence of anisometropia, strabismus and amblyopia. RESULTS: A total of 10 936 children were included, comprising 153 (1.4%) with ASD only, 413 (3.8%) with ADHD only, 276 (2.5%) with comorbid ASD-ADHD, and 10 094 (92.3%) healthy controls. The prevalence of anisometropia was 9.8%, 8.7%, 15.2%, and 6.0% across the respective groups (P < 0.001). The corresponding prevalence of strabismus was 4.6%, 2.9%, 4.0%, and 1.7% (P < 0.001), and for amblyopia, it was 7.2%, 2.7%, 4.0%, and 2.9% (P = 0.03). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD only plus comorbidity) was associated with higher risks of anisometropia (odds ratio [OR] = 1.51, P = 0.04), strabismus (OR = 2.30, P = 0.01), and amblyopia (OR = 1.91, P = 0.02), whereas ADHD (ADHD only plus comorbidity) was associated with anisometropia (OR = 1.58, P = 0.008) after adjusting for covariates. In subgroup analyses, the ASD-only group showed associations with strabismus (OR = 2.47, P = 0.04) and amblyopia (OR = 2.46, P = 0.02). The comorbid ASD-ADHD group exhibited a higher risk of anisometropia (OR = 2.17, P < 0.001), whereas children with ADHD only showed no association with the aforementioned ocular disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Children with ASD only and ASD-ADHD comorbidity were associated with increased and distinct patterns of anisometropia, strabismus, and amblyopia, while children with ADHD only showed no such association. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES: The author has no/the authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

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5. Kammer E, Patil S, Huynh H, Gao Z, Cai W. Functional deficits of the inhibitory control system in children with ADHD: A task-based fMRI meta-analysis. bioRxiv. 2026.

Inhibitory control deficits have long been proposed as a central neurocognitive mechanism underlying childhood Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, neuroimaging findings remain heterogeneous, partly due to methodological variability across developmental samples and experimental paradigms. The present study aimed to characterize the neural architecture of motor response inhibition in typically developing (TD) children and identify reproducible functional abnormalities associated with pediatric ADHD using stringent, developmentally specific inclusion criteria. We conducted two coordinate-based meta-analyses using Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE). Following a systematic literature search (up to August 2026), we identified 23 task-based fMRI studies reporting inhibitory-control-related activation in TD children (237 foci) and 17 studies comparing children with ADHD and TD peers (114 foci) during the Stop-Signal Task or Go/No-Go Task. \ Statistical significance was determined using cluster-level family-wise error (FWE) correction. In TD children, ALE revealed a robust inhibitory-control network encompassing the bilateral anterior insula (AI), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the midline pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). This spatial organization closely resembled the canonical inhibitory-control network consistently observed in adults, suggesting that the core neural architecture supporting motor inhibition is already detectably organized during development. In the between-group analysis, children with ADHD exhibited hypoactivation within the preSMA. Notably, this region demonstrated striking spatial overlap with the preSMA cluster reliably recruited in TD children during motor inhibition. These findings provide convergent support for inhibitory-control models of ADHD and identify altered preSMA recruitment as the key functional abnormalities associated with pediatric ADHD. While the neural infrastructure supporting inhibitory control is broadly established during childhood, children with ADHD exhibit reduced recruitment of a key cortical node within this network during motor inhibition demands.

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6. Kirkan TS, Dolapoglu N. The relationship between impulsive behaviors and adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in bipolar disorder. Front Psychiatry. 2026; 17: 1916550.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the relationship between impulsivity and adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms in euthymic patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD) Type I. METHODS: One hundred and eleven outpatients diagnosed with BD Type I according to DSM-5 criteria, scoring ≤7 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and ≤5 on the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), and in remission for at least two months were included. Impulsivity was assessed with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) and ADHD symptoms with the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS). Associations were evaluated with Spearman correlation analysis with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction, and hierarchical multivariable linear regression. Sensitivity analyses addressed item-content overlap, influential observations, and medication effects. RESULTS: A strong positive correlation was found between BIS-11 total and ASRS total scores (ρ=0.722; q<0.001); the ASRS Inattention and Hyperactivity-Impulsivity subscales were themselves moderately intercorrelated (ρ=0.600; p<0.001). Only 18.9% of patients scored ≥72 on the BIS-11 (clinically significant range) and 28.8% screened positive on ASRS Part A. In the final regression model, ASRS total score was the strongest independent predictor of BIS-11 total score (B = 0.734; β=0.676; p<0.001), together with Young Mania Rating Scale score (β=0.170; p=0.018; R(2)=0.573), an association that strengthened after excluding influential observations and after dichotomization (both p<0.01); variance inflation factors (1.04-2.61) indicated no multicollinearity. Both ASRS subscales remained independent predictors in subscale analysis (Hyperactivity-Impulsivity β=0.436; Inattention β=0.317; both p<0.001). The association persisted after removing shared item content (ρ=0.605; p<0.001), excluding influential observations, and adjusting for treatment regimen. CONCLUSION: In euthymic BD Type I patients, self-reported impulsivity showed a strong, independent association with self-reported adult ADHD symptom burden, particularly the hyperactivity-impulsivity dimension, robust across sensitivity analyses. Because ADHD symptoms were assessed only by self-report screening, without a structured diagnostic interview, and because the design is cross-sectional, these findings reflect a symptom-level, not diagnostic, association and do not establish causality. They nonetheless support considering ADHD symptoms in the routine clinical evaluation of euthymic BD Type I patients.

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7. Lei Y, Li S, Sun Y, Jiang Z, Liu B, Zhang Y, Ling Y, Li L. Non-invasive skin trace elementomics reveals a characteristic pattern of essential element deficiency and toxic element accumulation in children with ADHD. Biometals. 2026.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder in childhood. Its clinical diagnosis primarily relies on behavioral assessments, lacking objective and non-invasive biological indicators. Trace elements are involved in neurotransmitter synthesis, myelin development, and prefrontal cortex function regulation, and their imbalance may be associated with the pathogenesis of ADHD. However, previous studies have mostly focused on single elements, lacking systematic evidence at the omics level. To analyze the differences in 30 skin element levels between children with ADHD and healthy controls, and to explore the associations of elemental imbalances with core symptoms, anxiety, and executive function, thereby providing a basis for non-invasive screening of childhood ADHD. A total of 549 children with ADHD and 963 healthy controls were enrolled. Skin element levels were measured using a non-invasive high-throughput technique. Behavioral assessments were performed using the CONNERS, SNAP‑IV, SCARED, and WEISS scales. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with age as a covariate was used to compare intergroup differences in element levels. Partial correlation analysis was applied to control for age as a confounding factor. The Benjamini‑Hochberg method was used to control the false discovery rate (FDR) for multiple comparison correction, with a significance threshold of q < 0.05. After adjusting for age and FDR correction, 28 elements showed significant differences between the ADHD group and the control group. In the ADHD group, essential/potentially beneficial elements such as Mg, Zn, I, Cr, Li and Ge were decreased, whereas B and harmful elements including Pb, Hg, Cd, As, Al, Be, and Ba were increased. Multiple elements exhibited stable associations with inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, anxiety, and risk-taking behavior. Children with ADHD displayed a complex network pattern of synergistic and antagonistic inter-element relationships. Children with ADHD exhibit a characteristic skin trace elementomic imbalance, characterized by decreased beneficial elements and increased harmful elements, which is closely associated with behavioral symptoms. Non-invasive skin elementomics may serve as a reference indicator for population-based risk screening of childhood ADHD and holds promise for population-based screening.

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8. Rounds E, Kozlowski M, McCormack S, Ryabinin P, Nousen E, Tipsord J, Dieckmann NF, Karalunas SL, Herting MM, Faraone SV, Nikolas M, Nigg JT, Mooney MA. Longitudinal trajectories of ADHD symptoms: relationships to early-childhood predictors and later outcomes. medRxiv. 2026.

BACKGROUND: ADHD symptoms follow heterogeneous trajectories across childhood and adolescence, with important implications for later functioning. Early-life factors, including perinatal health, family environment, cognition, socioeconomic conditions, and community exposures, may contribute to this variability. The present study examined (1) early-life predictors of ADHD symptom trajectories, and (2) ADHD symptom trajectories as predictors of later substance use, suicidality, and new-onset psychiatric disorders. METHODS: Growth models were used to fit longitudinal trajectories of inattention, hyperactivity, and irritability measures in two independent samples: the Oregon ADHD-1000 cohort (N=1,215; 49.17% ADHD; 39.9% female, ages 7-23) and a subsample of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (N=1,252; 33.3% ADHD; 31.6% female, ages 9-16). Regression analyses examined multiple risk factors as predictors of symptom growth parameters as well as associations between symptom trajectories and later adverse outcomes. RESULTS: In both cohorts, growth models fit well (CFI > .96, RMSEA < .04), with all symptoms decreasing over time ( p s < .001) and hyperactivity declining significantly faster than inattention. ADHD polygenic risk, family conflict, parenting, and cognition were associated with symptom intercepts in both cohorts ( p s < .001). In Oregon ADHD-1000, poorer baseline working memory and processing speed predicted slower declines in inattention ( p s < .001), but these effects did not replicate in ABCD; no other early-life factors predicted symptom trajectories. Increasing irritability trajectories predicted new disorder onset in both cohorts (ORs = 1.73-2.09, ps < .001), while more positive inattention slopes predicted new disorder onset in ABCD (OR = 3.07, p < .001) and showed a weaker association in Oregon ADHD-1000 (OR = 1.50, p = .007). CONCLUSION: While several early risk factors were associated with ADHD symptoms initially, none robustly predicted symptom trajectories over time. However, increasing irritability and inattention were robustly associated with increased risk for new disorder onsets later in adolescence. KEY POINTS: - ADHD symptoms decrease over time on average, with hyperactivity demonstrating the highest rate of decline.- ADHD polygenic risk, family conflict, parental stress, parenting style, and cognition were strongly associated with symptom levels at intercept, but no replicable associations between early-life risk factors and change in symptoms over time (slopes) were observed.- Irritability slope was robustly associated with new disorder onsets.

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