Early Morning ADHD Symptoms and Functional Impairment: Impact on Patients and Caregivers, and Pharmacological Approaches to Management

Abstract

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common and impairing mental disorder. Individuals with ADHD typically experience symptoms from awakening throughout the entire day, contributing to impaired function at home, at school, and in the workplace. Treatment is available to address the symptoms of ADHD; however, the extent to which treatments afford improved function remains less clear. Impaired function in children and adolescents, particularly in the early morning where multiple tasks must be completed, from getting out of bed, and having breakfast to leaving for school on time, is common even among stimulant-treated children, and can increase stress upon caregivers and family members. Herein, we present a narrative review on early morning functioning impairment in children and adolescents with ADHD, its impact on caregivers, the rating scales available for clinicians to identify the degree of early morning functioning impairment, and the efficacy of currently available treatments in providing functional improvements to patients with ADHD during the early morning, identifying that only treatments that are available upon awakening have been shown to statistically separate from placebo for early morning functioning improvement.