Accurate assessments at CAP

Project description

ADHD is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses among children and young people today, and accounts for a large part of the interventions made in child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP). This often leads to long waiting times for assessment and treatment. To improve the diagnostic work, our study examines new, bodily ways of understanding mental conditions – so-called biomarkers. Biomarkers can be different types of bodily signals that tell us how the nervous system works. In our case, for example, it involves measuring how the heart’s rhythm varies (heart rate variability, or HRV), and how the pupils respond to light and information – something we measure with advanced eye-tracking technology. These signals reflect the activity of the autonomic nervous system, which controls the body’s “stress system” without us noticing. Although such methods have been used in some research in the past, there are few larger, systematic studies to see if they can actually help us distinguish ADHD from other diagnoses – such as anxiety, depression or autism – or from children without any diagnoses at all.

In our study, we will examine 220 children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years. Participants will be divided into four groups: 70 with ADHD, 50 with anxiety or depression, 50 with autism and 50 without any diagnosis. We want to find out if the biomarkers can provide important information in addition to the usual questionnaires and tests used in an investigation.

Our hope is that the study will provide us with new knowledge about what happens in the body in ADHD and similar conditions – and in the long term contribute to more accurate and fair diagnoses for children and young people.