The temperament mediates the serotonergic activity and severity of ADHD in children: Literature review

There are numerous reports about the relationship between the dopaminergic system and temperament in attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) yet, these reports avoid the study of the serotonergic system. The objective was to evaluate the role of brain serotonergic activity in temperament in children with ADHD from 0 to 12 years old. A search was carried out in publications bet-ween 1998 to 2021 in the database Pubmed and Ovid Medline. The search fields were title, abstract with indexed titles in English and Spanish. The search term included items from three categories ADHD, temperament, and serotonin. Of the 61 identified publications, two papers were included involving 412 children of age m = 7.36 ± 1.17, 55% were men, and 55% were Caucasian. The main findings indicate that serotonergic activity directly influences negative affect and effortful control, dimensions that moderate the presentation of ADHD symptoms. Considering temperament as a vulnerability factor in ADHD can be a valuable tool in diagnosis and intervention because it could serve as a predictor of psychopathology