Welcome to a special episode of the ADHD experts podcast from Attitude. Today we are pleased to bring you a sneak preview from the Spring 2025 issue of Attitude magazine, which arrives with subscribers in early February. To listen to the full issue and receive the spring 2025 issue hot off the presses,

subscribe now at attitude mag.com backslash subscribe. The topic of today's sneak preview is how

ADHD manifests as unique challenges in adolescence. For more on parenting a defiant teen or tween

with ADHD, we hope you will join our free webinar on February 12th with Dr. Sharon Selene.

Register now at Attitudemag.com backslash webinars. And now for today's story.

Four hazards of teen ADHD and ways to avert them.

Delayed brain development can lead youth with ADHD

to engage in impulsive and risky behaviors.

Here's what caregivers need to know. By Timothy E. Willens

MD. ADHD in adolescence brings distinct and measurable challenges, executive dysfunction, increased

risk for substance misuse, emotional dysregulation, and a propensity for high-risk behaviors.

Long-term studies confirm that if unaddressed, these challenges can adversely affect

quality of life and general functioning well into adulthood.

These struggles underscore the importance of creating supports and strategies that are

built to last from adolescence into young adulthood. Significant brain growth, especially in the

frontal lobe, the region involved in executive function skills like problem solving, conflict resolution, planning,

and impulse control occurs during the teenage years and continues until about age 25.

With ADHD, however, brain development in this region is slightly delayed.

Delayed frontal lobe development also makes regulating the limbic system,

the circuitry associated with emotion, anxiety, reward, and risky behavior more difficult.

This differential brain development may explain some dysregulation in adolescence with ADHD,

and it underscores why families need to remain involved and vigilant through this period.

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