Can the seasons of the year influence the emotional well-being of children with ADHD?

Summer is the season with the most daylight hours, which seems to positively influence the emotional well-being of many people. It also impacts the symptoms of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as observed by Dr. José Angel Alda in his studies.

The team led by Dr. José Angel Alda, researcher of the "Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research" group and Head of the Psychiatry Section and Coordinator of the ADHD Unit at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, along with Dr. María Izquierdo, Professor of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of Barcelona, has revealed that during the summer, a period with more light and longer days, children with ADHD showed fewer symptoms of inattention compared to the winter months, when there is less light and the days are shorter.

"These results highlight the importance of environmental light in regulating ADHD symptoms and suggest that factors such as the time of year can significantly impact the emotional well-being of children with this disorder. This raises the question of how environmental conditions can influence mental health and how treatment strategies can be adapted to consider these external factors," says Dr. José Angel Alda, a member of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research group at the Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu.

A hundred children participated in the study

The study compared data obtained through a watch among newly diagnosed ADHD children who were not receiving medication and volunteers without ADHD. The children were grouped according to the season of the year when they wore the watch (actigraph), differentiating between summer and winter time.

On one hand, the watch monitored the children's circadian pattern for 7 days, collecting data every minute, and also measured environmental light levels. On the other hand, ADHD symptoms were recorded through various scales, assessing inattention, hyperactivity, behavior, etc.

Light as a possible predictive factor for symptoms

The results of this study open the door to future research on how seasonal light could be used as a predictive factor for ADHD symptoms and how therapeutic interventions could be adjusted according to the time of year to optimize treatment outcomes. This new understanding of the relationship between environmental light and ADHD could pave the way for improving the quality of life of individuals affected by this disorder.

"Thanks to this initial result, we were able to start a study called iCASE, which aims to evaluate how alterations in the circadian rhythms of children with ADHD and ASD can impact their health and quality of life. In this way, we want to emphasize the importance of taking a more holistic approach to mental health, considering both external factors and the environment," concludes the research team.

Reference article

Zerón-Rugerio MF, Alda JA, Carpio-Arias TV, Izquierdo-Pulido M, Cambras T. Seasonality and ADHD: Summer time is associated with less symptoms of inattention among children and adolescents with ADHD. J Affect Disord. 2022 Oct 1;314:259-262. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.07.036. Epub 2022 Jul 22. PMID: 35878839.