It's estimated one in 10 children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD, and the numbers continue to rise. NY1's Erin Billups takes a look at one possible cause of the condition in this report.

ADHD is the most common neurobehavioral disorder among American children.

"It is characterized by a pattern of behavior. The challenge with diagnosing it sometimes though is that there's overlap between some of the symptoms of ADHD and symptoms of trauma," explains Dr. Nicole Brown, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore.

Analyzing parent-reported data from a national survey of 76,000 children, Brown found that kids who experience trauma are more likely to have an ADHD diagnosis. Trauma can be exposure to violence, a family member with a mental illness or even poverty.

"We found really that the number of adversities a child is exposed to is a really strong predictor," says Brown.

In the study, published in Academic Pediatrics, an ADHD diagnosis was two and a half times more likely among children dealing with at least three traumatic experiences.

And a child with at least four adversities were three times more likely to have an ADHD diagnosis than a child without trauma.

Experts say these adversities can trigger higher heart rates and the release of hormones like adrenaline, creating a condition called toxic stress.

"Toxic stress disrupts the brain architecture and it can lead to many of the behavioral symptoms that you see in a child with ADHD, impulsivity, difficulty staying organized, difficulty with attention," says Brown.

Brown says more research is needed to conclusively prove a link between ADHD and trauma, work that she will be doing with families in the Bronx.

In the meantime, she's urging pediatricians to keep the association in mind when screening young patients.

"There are very effective trauma-focused therapies, there are parenting supports that may actually end up helping the child if they're able to get both treatment for their ADHD and treatment for any underlining trauma," says Brown.