Headed by Per Hove Thomsen, a research group from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital has just received DKK 1.2 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The funding will go towards the research project: En alternativ vinkel på ADHD: Dimensioner og fordele (“An alternative angle on ADHD: Dimensions and benefits”).

2016.02.08 | Helle Horskjær Hansen

Per Hove Thomsen and his research group from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital has just received DKK 1.2 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Together with his research group, Per Hove Thomsen will carry out a project that focuses on understanding the importance of ADHD traits in schoolchildren. The project is being realised after financial support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and is being conducted by psychologist and PhD student Trine Wigh Arildskov from the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Center, Risskov in Aarhus.

The objectives of the project are to examine whether children in Danish 1st - 3rd grades have varying degrees of ADHD traits – hyperactivity, impulsivity and attention problems – and what such ADHD traits mean for the children's functional capacity and quality of life. The project will also take a closer look at the positive sides of ADHD, that is to say whether children with a certain degree of ADHD traits do better than children without such traits in certain situations.

Everyone is hyperactive and impulsive

Today, ADHD is to a great extent understood in accordance with a either/or way of thinking: Either a child has ADHD – or they do not. However, this understanding is challenged by studies indicating that ADHD traits actually occur in varying degrees in everyone. In other words, we are all to some extent hyperactive, impulsive and have attention problems without necessarily having a ADHD diagnosis. It is therefore important to refine our understanding of ADHD.

"At the same time, people with ADHD have an increased risk of experiencing stigmatisation. ADHD is often also mentioned in very negative terms. Here the child's difficulties and the things it is unable to do are in focus, rather than possible strengths and potential that the child can have as a result of its ADHD symptoms. In other words, the possible positive aspects of hyperactivity, impulsivity and attention problems still need to be clarified," explains Per Hove Thomsen.

The results of the project may be of significance to the way in which we understand and diagnose ADHD. Furthermore, the project can help to break down the stigmatisation of ADHD, which may in itself act as a barrier to children's social life and well-being. In addition to Professor Per Hove Thomsen and PhD student Trine Wigh Arildskov, the project group comprises Associate Professor Søren Dinesen Østergaard, Medical Doctor Anne Virring, PhD student Tobias Sonne and Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke .

Further information

Per Hove Thomsen
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Centre, Risskov.
(+45) 7847 3360
per.hove.thomsen@clin.au.dk