When reading Panksepp’s “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders, Psychostimulants, and Intolerance of Childhood Playfulness; A Tragedy in the Making?”, it made me think about the distinction that professionals use to actually diagnose ADHD. After all, most kids tend to be hyper during their childhood and as Panskepp suggests, it is their nature to be playful. I agree that there has to be a certain limit as to how much ‘fun’ a kid should have depending on the environment they’re in so there is an obvious issue when a child can’t control themselves in certain situations. With that being said, my question is how many children are just being playful and being wrongly diagnosed with ADHD, and is this a problem?
Up to 75% of children that are diagnosed with ADHD, fit the criteria needed to diagnose for another psychological disorder. Stress and anxiety are factors that a child might be experiencing and could be easily misdiagnosed for ADHD. I found it interesting, how 62% of children who were thought to have ADHD and referred to a clinic, ended up not having it. Problems with this was involved with the methodology of the diagnosis and a more thorough analysis should have been done. Additionally, it was noted how physicians vary the way they diagnose ADHD as well. On a different topic, it was interesting to see how girls vary their disruptive behavior compared to boys and tend to be underdiagnosed, leading to the lack of attention of this disorder. What really captured my attention is that children will exhibit behaviors that are part of ADHD. I think that it’s important to note that even though a child might be exhibiting these criteria for ADHD, it may not necessarily mean that they have the disorder. This is why misdiagnosing for ADHD is important because what if a child doesn’t even have ADHD and they’re taking medication? Do these medications lead to a change in behavior and how are these psychostimulants affecting the brain of these children?
Sciutto, Mark J. & Eisenberg, Miriam. (2007). Evaluating the Evidence For and Against the Overdiagnosis of ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 11 (2), 106-113.
I found it very interesting that 62% of children that were thought to have ADHD ended up not having it. I think that is a problem of the stigma with ADHD. If parents or teachers see a child that is maybe just energetic naturally or does not get enough attention at home so they act out in school, they could be thought to wrongly have ADHD. I think the general public, today, has a much better acceptance and understanding of mental health in years past. Before, ADHD would not even have been considered a possibility the child would most likely have to deal with parental discipline. Today, however; children could be often over diagnosed, because of the public's increased knowledge and familiarity with psychological disorders. It is not until a child is assessed by a psychologist would they then be found to have or not have ADHD. I looked up this issue on the library's database and found a good article on this issue. The Crisis of Overdiagnosed ADHD in Children. (2007). Psychiatric Times, 24(8), 12-13
I love that you brought attention to this topic! I have heard in a few other psychology classes that ADHD is often misdiagnosed. I have taken a few forensic courses and often ADHD is associated with conduct disorder. I for one think that the process for determining whether a child has ADHD is a bit too subjective. In some cases it may even seem easier to diagnose a child to give a reason for their behavior. My question is do you think diagnosing a child with ADHD early on has an impact on their overall personality during development?
That is a very interesting concept. While reading the article by Panksepp, I thought children that were "misdiagnosed" with ADHD were just playful which is a natural component of child development; however, from reading your post I learned that "misdiagnosed" children really meant that the majority had a different mental disorder, and those side effects were displaying themselves as ADHD symptoms. I would not have made that distinction without reading your post. Thanks for the insight!
I thought it was really interesting that you mentioned that girls and boys show signs of ADHD very differently. I would have never thought to compare sex differences to something like ADHD. I can totally see how girls could be misdiagnosed but I can also see how many people can confuse an active child with someone with ADHD. That is probably how it gets misdiagnosed so much. Very interesting thoughts though!
I also liked your input of girls and boys showing signs differently. Younger boys easily get away with the rowdiness and such due to "they're just being little boys" while girls are not allowed to have this same outlook towards them, so automatically something must be wrong. Many children run around and act crazy, but that's just their age and nothing abnormal about it at all. Great thinking.
When reading the chapter on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), I found that the section on diet was very interesting. It was not something that I had previously thought could be connected to ADHD, and I also was interested in the lack of consensus among professionals on the subject. What I would like clarification on is the potential relationship between essential fatty acids and ADHD. I found when looking up this issue that the sample of children with ADHD were found to have low essential fatty acids, and the children without ADHD were found to have a higher level of essential fatty acids. What was interesting about this study was that giving children with ADHD an essential fatty acid supplement did not improve their ADHD symptoms. Researchers were hoping that just this dietary change would be a natural remedy as well as have minimal side effects for children with ADHD. There is still much research being done in this area, because this study was not perfect. They did not do a double blind experiment or randomization to groups. It is also extremely hard to do a food trial according to this article. Raz, R., & Gabis, L. (2009). Essential fatty acids and attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 51(8), 580-592. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2009.03351.x
I think that it's interesting to note that a child's diet could have an effect on their ADHD behavior. It's interesting to see how ADHD could potentially be affecting their internal make-up and the fatty acid-ADHD correlation should have more research. I found it important to note that if they do more research on this topic, medication should be taken into account because what if the medication is also causing this fatty acid shortage? Nonetheless, it's an interesting idea!
I think that diet can impact behavior in a way that it can be perceived as ADHD. Perhaps certain foods are not necessarily linked to ADHD, but foods such as sugar in excess could make a child appear to be hyperactive. Perhaps the child's diet should be better observed when diagnosing ADHD in younger children. If a child's diet is not monitored by their parents, who is to say the child doesn't consume a large amount of sugar every day that makes them hyper? It sounds like a simple excuse for the behavior, but I hope to see researchers look further into the diet's of children who are misdiagnosed with ADHD.
Lauren, I found your blog post to be especially interesting because it discussed the relationship of ADHD with dietary needs. I, too, did not know that the two had any sort of relationship. In your post, you mentioned that the study concluded that providing children with an essential fatty acid (which they lacked when compared to children without ADHD) did not help to improve their symptoms. This made me wonder: why even is there a correlation between a lack of fatty acids and having ADHD? If research continues to be done on this relationship, hopefully we will be able to use it to help fight the symptoms of ADHD. Great post, very interesting!
I never knew that a diet could affect that type of outcome in a child. It was interesting to learn that the ones with the higher levels seemed to be the children that did not have ADHD, while the ones with ADHD were deprived of the essential fatty acids. it was really insightful to learn about this and something I may want to look into in the future.
I thought it was interesting that diet had a relationship with ADHD. I also wondered, like Lacy, why? Fat surrounds neurons to help make the signals move across the neuron faster. It is interesting that the less fatty acid is associated with ADHD rather than more fatty acid.
While, the term "you are what you eat", can not fully apply to this concept, I thoroughly believe the nutrients of which you consume can greatly effect ones physical and mental capacities. As I find your blog interesting, I also find the underlying theme of the blog even more interesting. The things we choose to eat reap more consequences then we assume. Choosing a meal to eat is usually a quick decision, without much deliberation, and if such a small decision can affect ones ability to focus, what other un-deliberated and even smaller decisions affect ones ability?
Good post! I would have never thought that low fatty acids and ADHD would have any kind of correlation. I wonder if maybe the people with ADHD are on a medication that might be responsible?You mentioned in your post that when given a fatty acid supplement it had no effect on symptoms. Maybe it could be people with ADHD are overproducing a chemical/nuerotransmitter thats making these levels low?
I can relate to the diet of someone with ADHD because my aunt has struggled with it her whole life. Before reading, I would have never realized that there was a relation between the two. Also reading the study, I was hoping that giving a dietary supplement would help children with ADHD. I have always been skeptical about giving children medicine for their mental illness. It was also interesting that what researchers found as a possible reason for ADHD were low essential fatty acids. It makes me want to make an experiment myself and find a solution. Overall, I enjoyed your post!!
When I worked in a detoxification program for people with substance abuse issues, I was struck by how many people seeking treatment had previous diagoses of ADHD. I was curious as to whether that was mediated by something else (for example, low SES), or if ADHD was a predictor of later SUD. However, most of these individuals had also come from unstable family situations, with ineffective parenting being the norm. In Wilens et al's 2012 study of substance use in individuals with child-diagnosed ADHD, parenting effectiveness is demonstrated to have a protective effect with respect to adolescent substance use. This mainly makes me curious about what other childhood psychiatric diagnoses can be moderated of protected against with effective parenting. I work in a parenting lab, so I'm inclined to believe that positive, effective parenting can go a long way, and I know that Parent-Child Interaction Therapy can decrease the occurrence of externalizing behaviors in children. However, what about schizophrenia? What about juvenile bipolar disorder? ADHD is a more accepted and normalized condition than many other disorders, even among adults, and children are nearly completely dependent on their parents. Educating parents on effective, positive parenting techniques could hopefully improve the prospects of a new generation of children with mental disorders.
Walther, C. P., Cheong, J., Molina, B. G., Pelham, W. J., Wymbs, B. T., Belendiuk, K. A., & Pedersen, S. L. (2012). Substance use and delinquency among adolescents with childhood ADHD - The protective role of parenting. Psychology Of Addictive Behaviors, 26(3), 585-598.
Hi Elyssa, Your post is very interesting and you brought up a potential risk factor for ADHD, socioeconomic status. I think that this could definitely play a role in the amount of children that are diagnosed with ADHD since for the most part, low socioeconomic status families tend to have working parents that may not necessarily have a lot of time to give to their kids. Parenting styles could have an influence on ADHD and I agree that a family therapy could help these children. Good post.
Wow! How interesting and cool your experience in detoxification program and parenting lab! Your experience brings a different point of view into this topic and I agree with your statements and also always wondered about schizophrenia myself, even after taking several different classes that discussed it. I also agree parenting styles can have a positive influence, if properly educated on the techniques. Great job!
I think it's really interesting that you would say low SES could be a potential risk factor for ADHD. It would make sense that a low SES child would be more at risk since typically they wouldn't live in a great neighborhood and the environment could play a role in ADHD. I think it would be interesting to see if children who are in an after school program would be less likely to develop ADHD than a child who is not in an after school program, since families in a low SES may not be able to afford after school care.
I absolutely agree that low SES in combination with ADHD could potentially lead to substance use. Families with low SES may have trouble getting their child to a doctor, much less afford the expensive medication needed to help them function. Substance abuse can definitely be a cause of poor impulse control. With that being said, individuals with ADHD may in fact be more likely to participate in these activities.
I have actually seen an instance where a family wanted to take the child off of medication for the summer in order for them to act "normal" and get their weight back up. In my opinion it was very successful because the mother was actively involved and did a lot of research on treating ADHD without meds. This would not have been near as successful in a family without direct parent involvement. Therefore I also agree with your idea of effective parenting.
I worked in a lab researching how a child's relationship with their parents, but more specifically their mom, would determine the success or failure when transitioning from Preschool to Kindgeraten. The professor I worked under believed that parents who were overbearing with certain tasks, for example "helping" their child create origami figures out of paper, would show the level of stress within the child depending on the parenting style of the mother. So to an extent I agree that parenting style can help with the effect that ADHD has on a child.
I personally have ADHD and was diagnosed, and medicated, in elementary school but my mom said I became a completely different kid and she wasn't okay with how zombie like I had become, so she took me off my medicine and helped me learn how to control my impulsiveness and tried to help me find ways to focus on my schoolwork so I wouldn't cause trouble. I definitely think her being a little more strict, but patient at the same time with me, helped to contribute to my success academically.
I found this very interesting how parenting can help or worsen a child's ADHD but I can totally see why. If a child with ADHD is not being stimulated or is being ignored then I can see how they would act out even more to try and get some attention. Yes, I know that ADHD is not just a child seeking attention, but I also wonder if parents really learn how to handle a child with ADHD if it will help that child learn to deal with their impulsivity and hyperactivity. I do think medication helps these kids because it must be so hard for them to get anything done. Good post!
Early in the chapter, there was discussion of peer rejection and the likelihood of this consequence from a child with ADHD disorder. This topic drew my attention because the book mentioned that people with ADHD disorders often self reported themselves with a better self-concept. I wanted to know more the effects that peer rejection has on ADHD symptoms. Peer rejection seems to be impairing and stable from childhood to adolescence. This can come from children possessing some characteristics and behavior that could lead to bad reputations and conflicts among others. Indirect evident has been found in the studies of peer rejection and self regulation. Self-regulation has been argued that it is poorer among people with ADHD symptoms. In studies with children 4, 6, and 8 years old, ADHD symptoms predicted peer rejection two years later. Then two years later the increased peer rejection would increase the child’s undercontrolled behaviors. Poor peer relationships negatively affect a person’s regulatory abilities after internalizing the solution to rejection. Peer rejection and ADHD symptoms have a reciprocal effect relationship with one another, when increasing one the other will follow. Stenseng, F., Belsky, J., Skalicka, V., & Wichstrøm, L. (2016). Peer rejection and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms: Reciprocal relations through ages 4, 6, and 8. Child Development, 87(2), 365-373. doi:10.1111/cdev.12471
I was also interested in this as well because I wondered how they could have a better self-concept, even with peer rejection. I see and agree with your last two sentences. I also questioned though that we see how peer rejection and ADHD symptoms have a reciprocal effect, so increasing one/decreasing one, the other would follow, but what about the individuals with ADHD that, even with peer rejection, they still might have a better and/or higher self-concept? Is that possible? Could this characteristic of ADHD and narcissism occasionally get confused? I enjoyed your post and I also am interested in this topic as well! Good job!
It makes sense that characteristics of a child with ADHD can lead to peer rejection. While some characteristics may appear or can be assumed as annoying, other characteristics can be appeared as distracted, not just for the ADHD child themselves but the other children around. This leads me to question if children with ADHD have greater peer rejection, would these children have more peer rejection within a group of similar ADHD characteristics? It seems like this objective would help the ADHD children maintain peers, it could also create a even more distracted environment. The blog is very interesting, containing multiple variables and relationships within the variable but I think that these statements raise more questions that can and need to be answered through research for the benefit of these children.
I found it very interesting that there might be a connection between peer rejection and ADHD. It makes sense that some symptoms of the disorder would lead to kids rejecting. Kids tend to reject people who are foreign to them. In high school, I would mentor at risk children (most of them with ADHD) and I can now see that the children who I helped were often the outcast of their class. It was very sad to see. Peer rejection can have major affects on children and have many potential bad outcomes. It all relates. Overall, great post! I enjoyed it.
Good post! It is a good topic and it makes alot of sense. I can see this coming into play especially among younger kids, anyone that is seen as different is more likely to be rejected by younger peers. I also think that with the right resilience factors and support the ADHD behaviors worsening could be avoided. It would be a great topic to study further and im sure it could help alot of kids that have ADHD.
While reading the chapter and required article for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, one of the diagnostic criteria, impulsivity, caught my eye. When I read about impulsivity, I started to wonder about ADHD and crime. I am a Forensic Science minor and really interested in criminal law after graduating, but to be quiet honest, I have not heard of ADHD being factors or being any kind of influence in criminals in any of my forensic classes. So my question is, what connection, if any, does ADHD have on crime? Is it a significant factor?
This study made a point that obviously people who do have ADHD and don't have ADHD commit crimes for the same reason, but there are different implications when it comes to criminals with ADHD. At least 25% of prisoners have ADHD, a statistic I had not heard of. In 2009, National Bureau of Economic Research saw a decline in violent crimes and believed the explanation had to do with the increase in newer prescriptions of antidepressants and stimulants for ADHD. The researchers also made a comparison with psychiatric meds and found inverse correlation that while prescriptions went up, violent crime went down. Their gathering of data and statistics showed that doubling prescriptions could lower crime rates by 6%. From my experiences in my classes, I know that several individuals go without any kind of treatment, especially those who might have low SES and cannot afford treatments, similar to the low SES in criminals. After previous knowledge and finding this article, finding a way to provide help to those criminals with ADHD could lower our crime rates.
Young, J. L., MD. (2010, April 12). ADHD and Crime: Considering the Connections. Medscape Education Psychiatry & Mental Health. http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/719862
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post! Specifically, I thought it was very interesting to learn about the inverse relationship between psychiatric medication and violent crime, because I eventually want to be a clinical child psychologist. I wonder if these findings could potentially work to prevent future crime, if prevention efforts were made with the youth of today. Overall, this was a great question to think up! Great job.
I found this to be really interesting because I learned about a study that randomly assigned children to either start with medication or behavior treatment and then randomly assigned again medication of behavior treatment the first round didn't improve the behaviors. Medication is important in the initial reduction of behaviors, but is shown to have no long term effect, especially if medication is stopped. This study showed that if you started a child on medication and increased the amount of medication their behaviors were worse off than any of the other combinations. I am interested in seeing what the timeline of this study was and what statistics they were looking into.
This dovetails really well with what I know - part of my substance abuse work deals with addicted inmates. I wonder if those are mediated by each other or by something else? If it's SES, that means environmental effects are instrumental and astronomical when it comes to ADHD. I'm interested to see whether ADHD is a mediating factor for later incarceration?
Very interesting, I wonder if this may have something to do with the likely hood of comorbidity with ADHD. I don't know any specific numbers or evidence for this, but it may be worth looking up for your future studies. I happen to know two individuals with ADHD that also have other disorders. One of which is my brother who has Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). ODD can result in the person being angry, defiant, and easily irritated. I image that if someone was to have both of these and not seek the proper treatment, or perhaps live in a low SES area, there could be circumstances leading to criminal behavior.
I really enjoyed reading your post! As we discussed in class today, impulsivity comes with a negative connotation, but it really just means acting without thinking. I don't think you are getting at the idea that ADHD causes people to act out in crime, but I agree that it could be a risk factor!
In your post, you referenced a statistic that at least 25% of prisoners have ADHD. My question is, do you think that is accurate, or do you think that it is because of the over-diagnosis of ADHD?
I actually interned at the Lubbock County Jail last year, and worked one-on-one with the inmates, which was a great experience! From working with the individuals that I did, it was clear that a lot of their decisions that ended them up in jail, either currently or previously, seemed to all have just been impulsive decisions which I found to be incredibly interesting but I didn't connect it to ADHD; which I now see would make a lot of sense. Most of the individuals I worked with came from low SES backgrounds and/or rough upbringings, for some it was obvious they had ADHD but couldn't obtain medical treatment due to their economic situation. So I can see where the peer review is coming from, and completely agree with your statement and the article you used.
I agree, it is interesting that there is a 25% correlation between having ADHD and being a criminal. With talking about impulsiveness in class today it made me think there would be a higher crime rate. On the topic of being impulsive I wonder if there is research on the specific types of crimes committed in relation to those with ADHD. I wonder if there is a pattern in their crimes.
While reading chapter 8 on ADHD, something that I found really interesting was the medical and physical concerns for people with ADHD. I had no idea that having ADHD put people at risk for so many physical issues. The book discussed how people who have ADHD are more likely to participate in risk taking behavior like unprotected sex, risky driving behaviors, and substance use. After reading more about ADHD and understanding more about the disorder, I realize that impulsivity is a symptom of ADHD. If people are impulsive, then they tend to make bad decisions because they do not think of the consequences. I was wondering if people with ADHD are more likely to commit suicide because of the impulsivity.
There was a study done by a group of psychologists looking at the relationship between ADHD, depression, and suicidal thoughts in Korean female adolescents. They thought that ADHD and suicidal thoughts would depend on the degree of depressive symptoms experienced by the girls. The study consisted of 788 high school girls who completed a self report questionnaire about depression and suicide. The study found that depressive symptoms play somewhat of a role in suicidal thoughts among people with ADHD. However, they found that the girls who had ADHD and conduct disorder problems had a higher correlation with suicidal thoughts. I found that very interesting when I was reading the study.
Cho, S.-C., Kim, J.-W., Choi, H.-J., Kim, B.-N., Shin, M.-S., Lee, J.-H. and Kim, E.-H. (2008), Associations between symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, and suicide in Korean female adolescents. Depress. Anxiety, 25: E142–E146. doi:10.1002/da.20399
That is really interesting that ADHD can put people at risk of physical harm. I had no idea that it could lead them to be more impulsive especially when it comes to suicide. I wonder how the parents or family members handle the situation. Are they treated differently for the suicidal thoughts since they also have ADHD compared to those who do not have ADHD? Since those without ADHD do not necessarily have that impulsive behavior.
It was interesting to learn about the correlation between suicidal thoughts and and ADHD. It is at the same time, not surprising that this does occur. Children with ADHD typically do not have social relationships with peers and it can have a toll on them. At the same time, because of their behavior problems, it can be a cause of more physical or mental abuse. With kids with ADHD experiencing these symptoms, it is not surprising that their suicidal thoughts may be higher than a typically developed child.
I never would have thought to associate impulsivity with a higher rate of suicide, I appreciate the connections you made here. The findings on Korean women and suicidal thoughts makes me want to know if there is more of probability of depression and suicidal thoughts in females with ADHD or males with ADHD. Or are there more risk factors for depression among adolescence with ADHD? I would want to get further into the specifics of suicide among ADHD disorders. You have a great post!
Wow! I have never heard about a correlation between ADHD and an increase in physical harm. This is such an abstract thing to think about, but it makes sense. I wonder though, is there a high comorbidity between depression and ADHD? If there is, then I could see how the symptoms of the two disorders would cause someone to be more at risk for suicide.
While reading the book, I found that it states that the academic skills of kids with ADHD are impaired by the time they went into first grade. I saw the impairment while watching the older kids in classrooms on a daily basis. There was a range of problems, form not understanding the work because of the lack of education to not being able to sit still for the hour they were in class. I wondered how could we prepare kids for school and prepare teachers to help children with ADHD.
At the Summer Treatment Program, there was a newer program there for pre-k students to help better prepare them for school. This treatment was modified from the Summer Treatment Program-Elementary to adjust to the different development. This program found that the Pre-K kids had better school readiness in aspects of behavior and self-regulation. If four year olds are able to do this, then we can better set up children with behavior problems to do better in school which in turn, helps out with functioning for the rest of their lives. I have seen behavior modification work with children, and the earlier we can target and teach children with behavior problems these skills to help regulate and control their emotions and behaviors the better we can prepare them for their future.
At the STP, I attended lectures and one in particular was about better preparing teachers and school systems to help children with ADHD. The study was testing teachers knowledge, beliefs, and skills to enhance intervention implementation. I saw the effect teachers can have on children when they understand how children with ADHD work best and learned how to deal help them. I believe this will be essential for setting up children with ADHD for their future.
Graziano, P., Slavec, J., Hart, K., Garcia, A., & Pelham, W. (2014). Improving School Readiness in Preschoolers with Behavior Problems: Results from a Summer Treatment Program. Journal Of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment, 36(4), 555-569. doi:10.1007/s10862-014-9418-1
Coles, E.K., Owens, J.S., Serrano, V.J. et al. School Mental Health (2015) 7: 34. doi:10.1007/s12310-015-9143-2
It's really cool that you worked at the Summer Treatment Program! I think it's interesting that there are lectures for teachers that have students with ADHD. Do teachers go to those as a continuing education class or is it just something they want to do on their own? I think it's important that people who are working with children learn to work with children with mental disabilities.
Megan, You said within your post that there was a even a program for pre-k kids. My question is how do you know a kid in pre-k has ADHD and isn't just a typical preschooler? I think its awesome that there are programs out there that are helping kids this young help to deal and cope with their ADHD. I just can't seem to get over the fact that kids are diagnosed with ADHD at such a young age!
I have the same question as Regan! At such a young age how can a person tell if that child is acting as they should be or if they have ADHD? Most children at such a young age can all be hyperactive and I don't understand what the difference is. I think it is also awesome that at your summer treatment program that they had classes for teachers to help them know how to handle those children with ADHD because I think that can help them in the long run if the children have teachers who know how to help them.
The text mentions that the beginning signs of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, in a child present themselves during preschool, and become even more noticeable when that child starts elementary school. According to the text, a preschooler showing signs of ADHD might dash from activity to activity, be defiant towards his/her teachers, behave aggressively, and have negative attitudes towards any sort of routine (Mash & Wolfe, p. 248). Once that child enters into elementary school, the visibility of their ADHD might become even more noticeable now that they have been put into a more structured setting. This child might have low academic success, be distracting to both themselves and others, or be poorly organized (Mash & Wolfe, p. 249). I work with preschoolers, ages 2 to 5, several times per week. I noticed that the majority of the descriptions the book provided for what a preschooler and elementary schooler with ADHD might look like seem to also be describing any typical child at those ages. Although I do understand that children with ADHD are different in their own ways and face certain obstacles a relatively “normal” child doesn’t, these descriptions given in the text make me wonder: how much more different do children with ADHD behave when compared to their peers without ADHD? Research shows that children who have been diagnosed with ADHD do behave a lot more differently than their peers without ADHD. One study compared a group of children, ages 4-9, who had been identified as having ADHD with another group of children, also ages 4-9, who did not have ADHD or any other sort of learning disorder. They compared these children on many different aspects that would define their behavior in school: attention problems, rule-breaking behavior, internalizing and externalizing problems, and more. The results showed that overall, participants with ADHD scored higher on every test than those without ADHD. The categories which presented a huge gap in the scores between the two groups included externalizing problems, attention problems, rule-breaking behavior, and aggressive behavior. The categories in which the two groups scored somewhat similarly included withdrawn/depressed, somatic complaints, and anxious/depressed. These results show that when compared to “normal/healthy” children, those who have with ADHD show much higher levels of aggression, acting out, breaking the rules, and having attention problems. Mash, E. J. & Wolfe, D. A. (2016). Abnormal child psychology. Cengage learning, 6 (8), 248-249. Evers, D., Lehmkuhl, G., Sinzig, J., Vinzelberg, I. (2014) Executive function and attention profiles in preschool and elementary school children with autism spectrum disorders or ADHD. International journal of developmental disabilities, 60 (3), 144-154.
Lacy, I also questioned the symptoms of ADHD, because I feel like all children act this way up to a certain point. I think that a great way of ruling out ADHD or not would be to wait to test the child until they are in second grade. Kindergardeners and even kids in first grade tend to have lower maturity levels. This is why such things such as T1 (transitional first grade) exist. My thought is I wonder how often kids are sent to T1 without the parent even knowing that their child could possibly have ADHD.
Lacy, your post leads me to wonder what sort of specific out-bursts or behaviors have to occur in such young age groups for an adult figure to begin to wonder if a child has symptoms of ADHD? I'm sure people working with as young as four year olds don't imagine anything is typically wrong with such a child behaving in hyperactive ways, but I could be wrong. Perhaps as new generations enter school, teachers are becoming more aware of signs to look out for children with ADHD.
After reading the assigned article and chapter 8 in the book over ADHD, the thing that stuck out to me the most was how children with ADHD have trouble with managing frustration and their emotions. I have a brother with ADHD and remember when he was younger before we knew he had ADHD; he had a difficult time with his frustration and would sometimes lash out. This led me to the question; Is it common for children with ADHD to be more aggressive? If so, why?
I found that children with just ADHD seem to be less aggressive than those who have ADHD mixed with something else. The study I read was a sequential study where researchers studied 85 children ages 7-11 and then 10 years later compared their findings to the original study to see how much worse the aggression had gotten. The researchers found that when ADHD was paired with conduct disorder that children were more physically aggressive, children with both ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder were more verbally aggressive, and children who only had ADHD were not as physically or verbally aggressive. The one thing I couldn’t get over about this article was that children with both CD and ADHD scored higher than the control group and ADHD for aggression. It really makes me feel for those children. I can only hope that their caretakers and doctors are really trying to help them, because such violent aggression in adolescents can lead to traumatic consequences if preventative actions aren’t being taken place.
Harty, Seth C., Carlin Miller J., Jeffrey Newcorn H., and Jeffrey Halperin M. "Adolescents with Childhood ADHD and Comorbid Disruptive Behavior Disorders: Aggression, Anger, and Hostility." Child Psychiatry and Human Development 40.1 (2009): 85-97. PsycINFO. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.
Regan, I found your post interesting because now I have even more questions about my own brother & children alike! Growing up he had co-morbidity of ADHD and anxiety and yet I saw many aggressive tendencies in him- so I'm wondering if there is research on anxiety & ADHD and aggression, too? I also noticed that as he got older the aggression dissipated a lot, however, his anxiety became more severe. So I wonder if aggression in children with co-morbid disorders ever lessens to any degree as they grow older?
Regan, I like that you found a connection between ADHD and aggression. My sister is diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety. She gets frustrated very easily over things people might find as "small," like not being able to express herself clearly. In order to clear her head she often goes for a run. I wonder if when a child gets diagnosed with ADHD and shows signs of aggression or frustration, that are above average levels for their age group, if they are given options on how to cope or ways to improve their aggression levels. Options could be suggesting weekly or monthly therapy sessions, ways to channel their frustration in a healthy manner, or techniques they can use to calm down. I also think it would be helpful if when professionals are diagnosing ADHD they also pay closer attention to other symptoms and disorders that could be accompanying ADHD.
As I was reading through the ADHD chapter I became especially interested in something that may seem obvious to everyone that knows anything about the disorder- "they frequently have lower productivity, grades, and scores on achievement tests." This stuck with me because my older brother was diagnosed with ADHD at a very young age, and while he did suffer from low productivity in school, surprisingly he did very well on exams. I mean, I was seriously envious of him and thought he was some kind of genius! Academics never interested him and if he never had to take a test or do homework in his life I'm sure he wouldn't, but the sheer fact was he had to take them. Every single time, he would come out with high A's and I was in complete shock. So I wonder if there is any correlation between ADHD and high intellectual ability- although the contrary is highlighted more often. I found an article called "When diagnosing ADHD, consider possibility of giftedness in some children," that explains how a child may be mistaken as having ADHD but may just be gifted due to over-excitedness, boredom, and over focus in some areas. However, it also talks a little bit about the concept "twice-exceptional" children which I believe could have been the case for my brother. The article states "gifted children can have ADHD or another behavioral or mental health condition even when they are provided with appropriate levels of stimulation." It then goes on to talk about how teachers and parents tend to look for one explanation and don't seek out the possibility of a child having a disability and giftedness which I find a bit concerning overall.
Von Hahn, E., M.D. (2012, July). "When Diagnosing ADHD, consider possibility of giftedness in some children" « SENG. Retrieved September 14, 2016
I can actually speak to this! I knew kids who had serious conduct problems until they were enrolled in SPIRAL, a Texas-based Gifted program. I know I got bored and twitchy a lot in school, especially in first and second grade, and mine was mediated by the fact htat my parents did a really good job of stimulating my intelligence. But I definitely got colloquially referred to as "ADHD" - which is its own problem, since we don't want the diagnosis confused - whenever I got bored and fractious in class, and I knew kids much worse than I.
I think that you bring up a topic that has not been looked into by society greatly! The concept of someone being “gifted” and having a mental health condition simultaneously or being misdiagnosed for something that a patient does not actually have. This finding makes me think that behavior does play an important part for diagnosing clients, but this could be a sort of clue that totally swings in the wrong direction of figuring out what is going on cognitively In a individual. If children are not flourishing in school should we be focused on something they are not learning or do they already have the knowledge and skills well ahead of their time? Good questions to bring up!
When reading Panksepp’s “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders, Psychostimulants, and Intolerance of Childhood Playfulness; A Tragedy in the Making?”, it made me think about the distinction that professionals use to actually diagnose ADHD. After all, most kids tend to be hyper during their childhood and as Panskepp suggests, it is their nature to be playful. I agree that there has to be a certain limit as to how much ‘fun’ a kid should have depending on the environment they’re in so there is an obvious issue when a child can’t control themselves in certain situations. With that being said, my question is how many children are just being playful and being wrongly diagnosed with ADHD, and is this a problem?
ReplyDeleteUp to 75% of children that are diagnosed with ADHD, fit the criteria needed to diagnose for another psychological disorder. Stress and anxiety are factors that a child might be experiencing and could be easily misdiagnosed for ADHD. I found it interesting, how 62% of children who were thought to have ADHD and referred to a clinic, ended up not having it. Problems with this was involved with the methodology of the diagnosis and a more thorough analysis should have been done. Additionally, it was noted how physicians vary the way they diagnose ADHD as well. On a different topic, it was interesting to see how girls vary their disruptive behavior compared to boys and tend to be underdiagnosed, leading to the lack of attention of this disorder. What really captured my attention is that children will exhibit behaviors that are part of ADHD. I think that it’s important to note that even though a child might be exhibiting these criteria for ADHD, it may not necessarily mean that they have the disorder. This is why misdiagnosing for ADHD is important because what if a child doesn’t even have ADHD and they’re taking medication? Do these medications lead to a change in behavior and how are these psychostimulants affecting the brain of these children?
Sciutto, Mark J. & Eisenberg, Miriam. (2007). Evaluating the Evidence For and Against the Overdiagnosis of ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 11 (2), 106-113.
I found it very interesting that 62% of children that were thought to have ADHD ended up not having it. I think that is a problem of the stigma with ADHD. If parents or teachers see a child that is maybe just energetic naturally or does not get enough attention at home so they act out in school, they could be thought to wrongly have ADHD. I think the general public, today, has a much better acceptance and understanding of mental health in years past. Before, ADHD would not even have been considered a possibility the child would most likely have to deal with parental discipline. Today, however; children could be often over diagnosed, because of the public's increased knowledge and familiarity with psychological disorders. It is not until a child is assessed by a psychologist would they then be found to have or not have ADHD. I looked up this issue on the library's database and found a good article on this issue.
DeleteThe Crisis of Overdiagnosed ADHD in Children. (2007). Psychiatric Times, 24(8), 12-13
I love that you brought attention to this topic! I have heard in a few other psychology classes that ADHD is often misdiagnosed. I have taken a few forensic courses and often ADHD is associated with conduct disorder. I for one think that the process for determining whether a child has ADHD is a bit too subjective. In some cases it may even seem easier to diagnose a child to give a reason for their behavior. My question is do you think diagnosing a child with ADHD early on has an impact on their overall personality during development?
DeleteAaron,
DeleteThat is a very interesting concept. While reading the article by Panksepp, I thought children that were "misdiagnosed" with ADHD were just playful which is a natural component of child development; however, from reading your post I learned that "misdiagnosed" children really meant that the majority had a different mental disorder, and those side effects were displaying themselves as ADHD symptoms. I would not have made that distinction without reading your post. Thanks for the insight!
Erin Cameron
Aaron,
DeleteI thought it was really interesting that you mentioned that girls and boys show signs of ADHD very differently. I would have never thought to compare sex differences to something like ADHD. I can totally see how girls could be misdiagnosed but I can also see how many people can confuse an active child with someone with ADHD. That is probably how it gets misdiagnosed so much. Very interesting thoughts though!
Desiree Copeland
I also liked your input of girls and boys showing signs differently. Younger boys easily get away with the rowdiness and such due to "they're just being little boys" while girls are not allowed to have this same outlook towards them, so automatically something must be wrong. Many children run around and act crazy, but that's just their age and nothing abnormal about it at all. Great thinking.
DeleteWhen reading the chapter on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), I found that the section on diet was very interesting. It was not something that I had previously thought could be connected to ADHD, and I also was interested in the lack of consensus among professionals on the subject. What I would like clarification on is the potential relationship between essential fatty acids and ADHD.
ReplyDeleteI found when looking up this issue that the sample of children with ADHD were found to have low essential fatty acids, and the children without ADHD were found to have a higher level of essential fatty acids. What was interesting about this study was that giving children with ADHD an essential fatty acid supplement did not improve their ADHD symptoms. Researchers were hoping that just this dietary change would be a natural remedy as well as have minimal side effects for children with ADHD. There is still much research being done in this area, because this study was not perfect. They did not do a double blind experiment or randomization to groups. It is also extremely hard to do a food trial according to this article.
Raz, R., & Gabis, L. (2009). Essential fatty acids and attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 51(8), 580-592. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2009.03351.x
Lauren,
DeleteI think that it's interesting to note that a child's diet could have an effect on their ADHD behavior. It's interesting to see how ADHD could potentially be affecting their internal make-up and the fatty acid-ADHD correlation should have more research. I found it important to note that if they do more research on this topic, medication should be taken into account because what if the medication is also causing this fatty acid shortage? Nonetheless, it's an interesting idea!
I think that diet can impact behavior in a way that it can be perceived as ADHD. Perhaps certain foods are not necessarily linked to ADHD, but foods such as sugar in excess could make a child appear to be hyperactive. Perhaps the child's diet should be better observed when diagnosing ADHD in younger children. If a child's diet is not monitored by their parents, who is to say the child doesn't consume a large amount of sugar every day that makes them hyper? It sounds like a simple excuse for the behavior, but I hope to see researchers look further into the diet's of children who are misdiagnosed with ADHD.
DeleteLauren,
DeleteI found your blog post to be especially interesting because it discussed the relationship of ADHD with dietary needs. I, too, did not know that the two had any sort of relationship. In your post, you mentioned that the study concluded that providing children with an essential fatty acid (which they lacked when compared to children without ADHD) did not help to improve their symptoms. This made me wonder: why even is there a correlation between a lack of fatty acids and having ADHD? If research continues to be done on this relationship, hopefully we will be able to use it to help fight the symptoms of ADHD.
Great post, very interesting!
I never knew that a diet could affect that type of outcome in a child. It was interesting to learn that the ones with the higher levels seemed to be the children that did not have ADHD, while the ones with ADHD were deprived of the essential fatty acids. it was really insightful to learn about this and something I may want to look into in the future.
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DeleteI thought it was interesting that diet had a relationship with ADHD. I also wondered, like Lacy, why? Fat surrounds neurons to help make the signals move across the neuron faster. It is interesting that the less fatty acid is associated with ADHD rather than more fatty acid.
DeleteLauren,
DeleteWhile, the term "you are what you eat", can not fully apply to this concept, I thoroughly believe the nutrients of which you consume can greatly effect ones physical and mental capacities. As I find your blog interesting, I also find the underlying theme of the blog even more interesting. The things we choose to eat reap more consequences then we assume. Choosing a meal to eat is usually a quick decision, without much deliberation, and if such a small decision can affect ones ability to focus, what other un-deliberated and even smaller decisions affect ones ability?
Good post! I would have never thought that low fatty acids and ADHD would have any kind of correlation. I wonder if maybe the people with ADHD are on a medication that might be responsible?You mentioned in your post that when given a fatty acid supplement it had no effect on symptoms. Maybe it could be people with ADHD are overproducing a chemical/nuerotransmitter thats making these levels low?
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DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLauren,
DeleteI can relate to the diet of someone with ADHD because my aunt has struggled with it her whole life. Before reading, I would have never realized that there was a relation between the two. Also reading the study, I was hoping that giving a dietary supplement would help children with ADHD. I have always been skeptical about giving children medicine for their mental illness. It was also interesting that what researchers found as a possible reason for ADHD were low essential fatty acids. It makes me want to make an experiment myself and find a solution. Overall, I enjoyed your post!!
When I worked in a detoxification program for people with substance abuse issues, I was struck by how many people seeking treatment had previous diagoses of ADHD. I was curious as to whether that was mediated by something else (for example, low SES), or if ADHD was a predictor of later SUD. However, most of these individuals had also come from unstable family situations, with ineffective parenting being the norm. In Wilens et al's 2012 study of substance use in individuals with child-diagnosed ADHD, parenting effectiveness is demonstrated to have a protective effect with respect to adolescent substance use.
ReplyDeleteThis mainly makes me curious about what other childhood psychiatric diagnoses can be moderated of protected against with effective parenting. I work in a parenting lab, so I'm inclined to believe that positive, effective parenting can go a long way, and I know that Parent-Child Interaction Therapy can decrease the occurrence of externalizing behaviors in children. However, what about schizophrenia? What about juvenile bipolar disorder? ADHD is a more accepted and normalized condition than many other disorders, even among adults, and children are nearly completely dependent on their parents. Educating parents on effective, positive parenting techniques could hopefully improve the prospects of a new generation of children with mental disorders.
Walther, C. P., Cheong, J., Molina, B. G., Pelham, W. J., Wymbs, B. T., Belendiuk, K. A., & Pedersen, S. L. (2012). Substance use and delinquency among adolescents with childhood ADHD - The protective role of parenting. Psychology Of Addictive Behaviors, 26(3), 585-598.
Hi Elyssa,
DeleteYour post is very interesting and you brought up a potential risk factor for ADHD, socioeconomic status. I think that this could definitely play a role in the amount of children that are diagnosed with ADHD since for the most part, low socioeconomic status families tend to have working parents that may not necessarily have a lot of time to give to their kids. Parenting styles could have an influence on ADHD and I agree that a family therapy could help these children. Good post.
Elyssa,
DeleteWow! How interesting and cool your experience in detoxification program and parenting lab! Your experience brings a different point of view into this topic and I agree with your statements and also always wondered about schizophrenia myself, even after taking several different classes that discussed it. I also agree parenting styles can have a positive influence, if properly educated on the techniques.
Great job!
Elyssa,
DeleteI think it's really interesting that you would say low SES could be a potential risk factor for ADHD. It would make sense that a low SES child would be more at risk since typically they wouldn't live in a great neighborhood and the environment could play a role in ADHD. I think it would be interesting to see if children who are in an after school program would be less likely to develop ADHD than a child who is not in an after school program, since families in a low SES may not be able to afford after school care.
Elyssa,
DeleteI absolutely agree that low SES in combination with ADHD could potentially lead to substance use. Families with low SES may have trouble getting their child to a doctor, much less afford the expensive medication needed to help them function. Substance abuse can definitely be a cause of poor impulse control. With that being said, individuals with ADHD may in fact be more likely to participate in these activities.
I have actually seen an instance where a family wanted to take the child off of medication for the summer in order for them to act "normal" and get their weight back up. In my opinion it was very successful because the mother was actively involved and did a lot of research on treating ADHD without meds. This would not have been near as successful in a family without direct parent involvement. Therefore I also agree with your idea of effective parenting.
Elyssa,
DeleteI worked in a lab researching how a child's relationship with their parents, but more specifically their mom, would determine the success or failure when transitioning from Preschool to Kindgeraten. The professor I worked under believed that parents who were overbearing with certain tasks, for example "helping" their child create origami figures out of paper, would show the level of stress within the child depending on the parenting style of the mother. So to an extent I agree that parenting style can help with the effect that ADHD has on a child.
I personally have ADHD and was diagnosed, and medicated, in elementary school but my mom said I became a completely different kid and she wasn't okay with how zombie like I had become, so she took me off my medicine and helped me learn how to control my impulsiveness and tried to help me find ways to focus on my schoolwork so I wouldn't cause trouble. I definitely think her being a little more strict, but patient at the same time with me, helped to contribute to my success academically.
Elyssa,
DeleteI found this very interesting how parenting can help or worsen a child's ADHD but I can totally see why. If a child with ADHD is not being stimulated or is being ignored then I can see how they would act out even more to try and get some attention. Yes, I know that ADHD is not just a child seeking attention, but I also wonder if parents really learn how to handle a child with ADHD if it will help that child learn to deal with their impulsivity and hyperactivity. I do think medication helps these kids because it must be so hard for them to get anything done. Good post!
Desiree Copeland
Early in the chapter, there was discussion of peer rejection and the likelihood of this consequence from a child with ADHD disorder. This topic drew my attention because the book mentioned that people with ADHD disorders often self reported themselves with a better self-concept. I wanted to know more the effects that peer rejection has on ADHD symptoms.
ReplyDeletePeer rejection seems to be impairing and stable from childhood to adolescence. This can come from children possessing some characteristics and behavior that could lead to bad reputations and conflicts among others. Indirect evident has been found in the studies of peer rejection and self regulation. Self-regulation has been argued that it is poorer among people with ADHD symptoms. In studies with children 4, 6, and 8 years old, ADHD symptoms predicted peer rejection two years later. Then two years later the increased peer rejection would increase the child’s undercontrolled behaviors. Poor peer relationships negatively affect a person’s regulatory abilities after internalizing the solution to rejection. Peer rejection and ADHD symptoms have a reciprocal effect relationship with one another, when increasing one the other will follow.
Stenseng, F., Belsky, J., Skalicka, V., & Wichstrøm, L. (2016). Peer rejection and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms: Reciprocal relations through ages 4, 6, and 8. Child Development, 87(2), 365-373. doi:10.1111/cdev.12471
Chris,
DeleteI was also interested in this as well because I wondered how they could have a better self-concept, even with peer rejection. I see and agree with your last two sentences. I also questioned though that we see how peer rejection and ADHD symptoms have a reciprocal effect, so increasing one/decreasing one, the other would follow, but what about the individuals with ADHD that, even with peer rejection, they still might have a better and/or higher self-concept? Is that possible? Could this characteristic of ADHD and narcissism occasionally get confused?
I enjoyed your post and I also am interested in this topic as well! Good job!
It makes sense that characteristics of a child with ADHD can lead to peer rejection. While some characteristics may appear or can be assumed as annoying, other characteristics can be appeared as distracted, not just for the ADHD child themselves but the other children around. This leads me to question if children with ADHD have greater peer rejection, would these children have more peer rejection within a group of similar ADHD characteristics? It seems like this objective would help the ADHD children maintain peers, it could also create a even more distracted environment. The blog is very interesting, containing multiple variables and relationships within the variable but I think that these statements raise more questions that can and need to be answered through research for the benefit of these children.
DeleteI found it very interesting that there might be a connection between peer rejection and ADHD. It makes sense that some symptoms of the disorder would lead to kids rejecting. Kids tend to reject people who are foreign to them. In high school, I would mentor at risk children (most of them with ADHD) and I can now see that the children who I helped were often the outcast of their class. It was very sad to see. Peer rejection can have major affects on children and have many potential bad outcomes. It all relates. Overall, great post! I enjoyed it.
DeleteGood post! It is a good topic and it makes alot of sense. I can see this coming into play especially among younger kids, anyone that is seen as different is more likely to be rejected by younger peers. I also think that with the right resilience factors and support the ADHD behaviors worsening could be avoided. It would be a great topic to study further and im sure it could help alot of kids that have ADHD.
DeleteWhile reading the chapter and required article for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, one of the diagnostic criteria, impulsivity, caught my eye. When I read about impulsivity, I started to wonder about ADHD and crime. I am a Forensic Science minor and really interested in criminal law after graduating, but to be quiet honest, I have not heard of ADHD being factors or being any kind of influence in criminals in any of my forensic classes. So my question is, what connection, if any, does ADHD have on crime? Is it a significant factor?
ReplyDeleteThis study made a point that obviously people who do have ADHD and don't have ADHD commit crimes for the same reason, but there are different implications when it comes to criminals with ADHD. At least 25% of prisoners have ADHD, a statistic I had not heard of. In 2009, National Bureau of Economic Research saw a decline in violent crimes and believed the explanation had to do with the increase in newer prescriptions of antidepressants and stimulants for ADHD. The researchers also made a comparison with psychiatric meds and found inverse correlation that while prescriptions went up, violent crime went down. Their gathering of data and statistics showed that doubling prescriptions could lower crime rates by 6%. From my experiences in my classes, I know that several individuals go without any kind of treatment, especially those who might have low SES and cannot afford treatments, similar to the low SES in criminals. After previous knowledge and finding this article, finding a way to provide help to those criminals with ADHD could lower our crime rates.
Young, J. L., MD. (2010, April 12). ADHD and Crime: Considering the Connections. Medscape Education Psychiatry & Mental Health. http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/719862
Morgan,
DeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading your post! Specifically, I thought it was very interesting to learn about the inverse relationship between psychiatric medication and violent crime, because I eventually want to be a clinical child psychologist. I wonder if these findings could potentially work to prevent future crime, if prevention efforts were made with the youth of today. Overall, this was a great question to think up! Great job.
Erin Cameron
I found this to be really interesting because I learned about a study that randomly assigned children to either start with medication or behavior treatment and then randomly assigned again medication of behavior treatment the first round didn't improve the behaviors. Medication is important in the initial reduction of behaviors, but is shown to have no long term effect, especially if medication is stopped. This study showed that if you started a child on medication and increased the amount of medication their behaviors were worse off than any of the other combinations. I am interested in seeing what the timeline of this study was and what statistics they were looking into.
DeleteThis dovetails really well with what I know - part of my substance abuse work deals with addicted inmates. I wonder if those are mediated by each other or by something else? If it's SES, that means environmental effects are instrumental and astronomical when it comes to ADHD. I'm interested to see whether ADHD is a mediating factor for later incarceration?
DeleteVery interesting, I wonder if this may have something to do with the likely hood of comorbidity with ADHD. I don't know any specific numbers or evidence for this, but it may be worth looking up for your future studies. I happen to know two individuals with ADHD that also have other disorders. One of which is my brother who has Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). ODD can result in the person being angry, defiant, and easily irritated. I image that if someone was to have both of these and not seek the proper treatment, or perhaps live in a low SES area, there could be circumstances leading to criminal behavior.
DeleteMorgan,
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! As we discussed in class today, impulsivity comes with a negative connotation, but it really just means acting without thinking. I don't think you are getting at the idea that ADHD causes people to act out in crime, but I agree that it could be a risk factor!
In your post, you referenced a statistic that at least 25% of prisoners have ADHD. My question is, do you think that is accurate, or do you think that it is because of the over-diagnosis of ADHD?
-Rachel Smith
Morgan,
DeleteI actually interned at the Lubbock County Jail last year, and worked one-on-one with the inmates, which was a great experience! From working with the individuals that I did, it was clear that a lot of their decisions that ended them up in jail, either currently or previously, seemed to all have just been impulsive decisions which I found to be incredibly interesting but I didn't connect it to ADHD; which I now see would make a lot of sense. Most of the individuals I worked with came from low SES backgrounds and/or rough upbringings, for some it was obvious they had ADHD but couldn't obtain medical treatment due to their economic situation. So I can see where the peer review is coming from, and completely agree with your statement and the article you used.
I agree, it is interesting that there is a 25% correlation between having ADHD and being a criminal. With talking about impulsiveness in class today it made me think there would be a higher crime rate. On the topic of being impulsive I wonder if there is research on the specific types of crimes committed in relation to those with ADHD. I wonder if there is a pattern in their crimes.
DeleteWhile reading chapter 8 on ADHD, something that I found really interesting was the medical and physical concerns for people with ADHD. I had no idea that having ADHD put people at risk for so many physical issues. The book discussed how people who have ADHD are more likely to participate in risk taking behavior like unprotected sex, risky driving behaviors, and substance use. After reading more about ADHD and understanding more about the disorder, I realize that impulsivity is a symptom of ADHD. If people are impulsive, then they tend to make bad decisions because they do not think of the consequences. I was wondering if people with ADHD are more likely to commit suicide because of the impulsivity.
ReplyDeleteThere was a study done by a group of psychologists looking at the relationship between ADHD, depression, and suicidal thoughts in Korean female adolescents. They thought that ADHD and suicidal thoughts would depend on the degree of depressive symptoms experienced by the girls. The study consisted of 788 high school girls who completed a self report questionnaire about depression and suicide. The study found that depressive symptoms play somewhat of a role in suicidal thoughts among people with ADHD. However, they found that the girls who had ADHD and conduct disorder problems had a higher correlation with suicidal thoughts. I found that very interesting when I was reading the study.
Cho, S.-C., Kim, J.-W., Choi, H.-J., Kim, B.-N., Shin, M.-S., Lee, J.-H. and Kim, E.-H. (2008), Associations between symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, and suicide in Korean female adolescents. Depress. Anxiety, 25: E142–E146. doi:10.1002/da.20399
Desiree Copeland
That is really interesting that ADHD can put people at risk of physical harm. I had no idea that it could lead them to be more impulsive especially when it comes to suicide. I wonder how the parents or family members handle the situation. Are they treated differently for the suicidal thoughts since they also have ADHD compared to those who do not have ADHD? Since those without ADHD do not necessarily have that impulsive behavior.
DeleteIt was interesting to learn about the correlation between suicidal thoughts and and ADHD. It is at the same time, not surprising that this does occur. Children with ADHD typically do not have social relationships with peers and it can have a toll on them. At the same time, because of their behavior problems, it can be a cause of more physical or mental abuse. With kids with ADHD experiencing these symptoms, it is not surprising that their suicidal thoughts may be higher than a typically developed child.
DeleteI never would have thought to associate impulsivity with a higher rate of suicide, I appreciate the connections you made here. The findings on Korean women and suicidal thoughts makes me want to know if there is more of probability of depression and suicidal thoughts in females with ADHD or males with ADHD. Or are there more risk factors for depression among adolescence with ADHD? I would want to get further into the specifics of suicide among ADHD disorders. You have a great post!
DeleteDesiree,
DeleteWow! I have never heard about a correlation between ADHD and an increase in physical harm. This is such an abstract thing to think about, but it makes sense. I wonder though, is there a high comorbidity between depression and ADHD? If there is, then I could see how the symptoms of the two disorders would cause someone to be more at risk for suicide.
-Rachel Smith
While reading the book, I found that it states that the academic skills of kids with ADHD are impaired by the time they went into first grade. I saw the impairment while watching the older kids in classrooms on a daily basis. There was a range of problems, form not understanding the work because of the lack of education to not being able to sit still for the hour they were in class. I wondered how could we prepare kids for school and prepare teachers to help children with ADHD.
ReplyDeleteAt the Summer Treatment Program, there was a newer program there for pre-k students to help better prepare them for school. This treatment was modified from the Summer Treatment Program-Elementary to adjust to the different development. This program found that the Pre-K kids had better school readiness in aspects of behavior and self-regulation. If four year olds are able to do this, then we can better set up children with behavior problems to do better in school which in turn, helps out with functioning for the rest of their lives. I have seen behavior modification work with children, and the earlier we can target and teach children with behavior problems these skills to help regulate and control their emotions and behaviors the better we can prepare them for their future.
At the STP, I attended lectures and one in particular was about better preparing teachers and school systems to help children with ADHD. The study was testing teachers knowledge, beliefs, and skills to enhance intervention implementation. I saw the effect teachers can have on children when they understand how children with ADHD work best and learned how to deal help them. I believe this will be essential for setting up children with ADHD for their future.
Graziano, P., Slavec, J., Hart, K., Garcia, A., & Pelham, W. (2014). Improving School Readiness in Preschoolers with Behavior Problems: Results from a Summer Treatment Program. Journal Of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment, 36(4), 555-569. doi:10.1007/s10862-014-9418-1
Coles, E.K., Owens, J.S., Serrano, V.J. et al. School Mental Health (2015) 7: 34. doi:10.1007/s12310-015-9143-2
Megan,
DeleteIt's really cool that you worked at the Summer Treatment Program! I think it's interesting that there are lectures for teachers that have students with ADHD. Do teachers go to those as a continuing education class or is it just something they want to do on their own? I think it's important that people who are working with children learn to work with children with mental disabilities.
Megan,
DeleteYou said within your post that there was a even a program for pre-k kids. My question is how do you know a kid in pre-k has ADHD and isn't just a typical preschooler? I think its awesome that there are programs out there that are helping kids this young help to deal and cope with their ADHD. I just can't seem to get over the fact that kids are diagnosed with ADHD at such a young age!
I have the same question as Regan! At such a young age how can a person tell if that child is acting as they should be or if they have ADHD? Most children at such a young age can all be hyperactive and I don't understand what the difference is. I think it is also awesome that at your summer treatment program that they had classes for teachers to help them know how to handle those children with ADHD because I think that can help them in the long run if the children have teachers who know how to help them.
DeleteThe text mentions that the beginning signs of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, in a child present themselves during preschool, and become even more noticeable when that child starts elementary school. According to the text, a preschooler showing signs of ADHD might dash from activity to activity, be defiant towards his/her teachers, behave aggressively, and have negative attitudes towards any sort of routine (Mash & Wolfe, p. 248). Once that child enters into elementary school, the visibility of their ADHD might become even more noticeable now that they have been put into a more structured setting. This child might have low academic success, be distracting to both themselves and others, or be poorly organized (Mash & Wolfe, p. 249). I work with preschoolers, ages 2 to 5, several times per week. I noticed that the majority of the descriptions the book provided for what a preschooler and elementary schooler with ADHD might look like seem to also be describing any typical child at those ages. Although I do understand that children with ADHD are different in their own ways and face certain obstacles a relatively “normal” child doesn’t, these descriptions given in the text make me wonder: how much more different do children with ADHD behave when compared to their peers without ADHD?
ReplyDeleteResearch shows that children who have been diagnosed with ADHD do behave a lot more differently than their peers without ADHD. One study compared a group of children, ages 4-9, who had been identified as having ADHD with another group of children, also ages 4-9, who did not have ADHD or any other sort of learning disorder. They compared these children on many different aspects that would define their behavior in school: attention problems, rule-breaking behavior, internalizing and externalizing problems, and more. The results showed that overall, participants with ADHD scored higher on every test than those without ADHD. The categories which presented a huge gap in the scores between the two groups included externalizing problems, attention problems, rule-breaking behavior, and aggressive behavior. The categories in which the two groups scored somewhat similarly included withdrawn/depressed, somatic complaints, and anxious/depressed. These results show that when compared to “normal/healthy” children, those who have with ADHD show much higher levels of aggression, acting out, breaking the rules, and having attention problems.
Mash, E. J. & Wolfe, D. A. (2016). Abnormal child psychology. Cengage learning, 6 (8), 248-249.
Evers, D., Lehmkuhl, G., Sinzig, J., Vinzelberg, I. (2014) Executive function and attention profiles in preschool and elementary school children with autism spectrum disorders or ADHD. International journal of developmental disabilities, 60 (3), 144-154.
Lacy,
DeleteI also questioned the symptoms of ADHD, because I feel like all children act this way up to a certain point. I think that a great way of ruling out ADHD or not would be to wait to test the child until they are in second grade. Kindergardeners and even kids in first grade tend to have lower maturity levels. This is why such things such as T1 (transitional first grade) exist. My thought is I wonder how often kids are sent to T1 without the parent even knowing that their child could possibly have ADHD.
Lacy,
Deleteyour post leads me to wonder what sort of specific out-bursts or behaviors have to occur in such young age groups for an adult figure to begin to wonder if a child has symptoms of ADHD? I'm sure people working with as young as four year olds don't imagine anything is typically wrong with such a child behaving in hyperactive ways, but I could be wrong. Perhaps as new generations enter school, teachers are becoming more aware of signs to look out for children with ADHD.
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DeleteAfter reading the assigned article and chapter 8 in the book over ADHD, the thing that stuck out to me the most was how children with ADHD have trouble with managing frustration and their emotions. I have a brother with ADHD and remember when he was younger before we knew he had ADHD; he had a difficult time with his frustration and would sometimes lash out. This led me to the question; Is it common for children with ADHD to be more aggressive? If so, why?
ReplyDeleteI found that children with just ADHD seem to be less aggressive than those who have ADHD mixed with something else. The study I read was a sequential study where researchers studied 85 children ages 7-11 and then 10 years later compared their findings to the original study to see how much worse the aggression had gotten. The researchers found that when ADHD was paired with conduct disorder that children were more physically aggressive, children with both ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder were more verbally aggressive, and children who only had ADHD were not as physically or verbally aggressive. The one thing I couldn’t get over about this article was that children with both CD and ADHD scored higher than the control group and ADHD for aggression. It really makes me feel for those children. I can only hope that their caretakers and doctors are really trying to help them, because such violent aggression in adolescents can lead to traumatic consequences if preventative actions aren’t being taken place.
Harty, Seth C., Carlin Miller J., Jeffrey Newcorn H., and Jeffrey Halperin M. "Adolescents with Childhood ADHD and Comorbid Disruptive Behavior Disorders: Aggression, Anger, and Hostility." Child Psychiatry and Human Development 40.1 (2009): 85-97. PsycINFO. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.
Regan,
DeleteI found your post interesting because now I have even more questions about my own brother & children alike! Growing up he had co-morbidity of ADHD and anxiety and yet I saw many aggressive tendencies in him- so I'm wondering if there is research on anxiety & ADHD and aggression, too? I also noticed that as he got older the aggression dissipated a lot, however, his anxiety became more severe. So I wonder if aggression in children with co-morbid disorders ever lessens to any degree as they grow older?
Regan,
DeleteI like that you found a connection between ADHD and aggression. My sister is diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety. She gets frustrated very easily over things people might find as "small," like not being able to express herself clearly. In order to clear her head she often goes for a run. I wonder if when a child gets diagnosed with ADHD and shows signs of aggression or frustration, that are above average levels for their age group, if they are given options on how to cope or ways to improve their aggression levels. Options could be suggesting weekly or monthly therapy sessions, ways to channel their frustration in a healthy manner, or techniques they can use to calm down. I also think it would be helpful if when professionals are diagnosing ADHD they also pay closer attention to other symptoms and disorders that could be accompanying ADHD.
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ReplyDeleteAs I was reading through the ADHD chapter I became especially interested in something that may seem obvious to everyone that knows anything about the disorder- "they frequently have lower productivity, grades, and scores on achievement tests." This stuck with me because my older brother was diagnosed with ADHD at a very young age, and while he did suffer from low productivity in school, surprisingly he did very well on exams. I mean, I was seriously envious of him and thought he was some kind of genius! Academics never interested him and if he never had to take a test or do homework in his life I'm sure he wouldn't, but the sheer fact was he had to take them. Every single time, he would come out with high A's and I was in complete shock. So I wonder if there is any correlation between ADHD and high intellectual ability- although the contrary is highlighted more often.
ReplyDeleteI found an article called "When diagnosing ADHD, consider possibility of giftedness in some children," that explains how a child may be mistaken as having ADHD but may just be gifted due to over-excitedness, boredom, and over focus in some areas. However, it also talks a little bit about the concept "twice-exceptional" children which I believe could have been the case for my brother. The article states "gifted children can have ADHD or another behavioral or mental health condition even when they are provided with appropriate levels of stimulation." It then goes on to talk about how teachers and parents tend to look for one explanation and don't seek out the possibility of a child having a disability and giftedness which I find a bit concerning overall.
Von Hahn, E., M.D. (2012, July). "When Diagnosing ADHD, consider possibility of giftedness in some children" « SENG. Retrieved September 14, 2016
I can actually speak to this! I knew kids who had serious conduct problems until they were enrolled in SPIRAL, a Texas-based Gifted program. I know I got bored and twitchy a lot in school, especially in first and second grade, and mine was mediated by the fact htat my parents did a really good job of stimulating my intelligence. But I definitely got colloquially referred to as "ADHD" - which is its own problem, since we don't want the diagnosis confused - whenever I got bored and fractious in class, and I knew kids much worse than I.
DeleteI think that you bring up a topic that has not been looked into by society greatly! The concept of someone being “gifted” and having a mental health condition simultaneously or being misdiagnosed for something that a patient does not actually have. This finding makes me think that behavior does play an important part for diagnosing clients, but this could be a sort of clue that totally swings in the wrong direction of figuring out what is going on cognitively In a individual. If children are not flourishing in school should we be focused on something they are not learning or do they already have the knowledge and skills well ahead of their time? Good questions to bring up!
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