Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-38).

Although the efforts of multiple scholars contribute to a growing sociological conception of ADHD, I seek to fill a gap in the literature on ADHD by scrutinizing the various meanings that society attaches to the diagnostic construct of ADHD and commencing a more critical engagement with the manner in which ADHD unfolds in the lives of diagnosees - one which is premised on the actual experiences of the individual subject. Thus, I explore the sociological meaning of ADHD diagnosis through two related questions. First, what discourses shape the meaning of ADHD as a categorical marker or subject identity? Second, what are the consequences of identifying as an ADHD subject? To identify discourse on ADHD, I conduct a content analysis on 40 articles of the popular press on ADHD. To explore the consequences of identifying as an ADHD subject, I conduct a series of five interviews with young women students who associate themselves to ADHD. This mixed methods study finds strong contention surrounding ADHD diagnosis and treatment in the public sphere and individual negotiations of meaning that work around or else avoid negative subject identities in the private sphere of ADHD diagnosis.

Creativity is a valuable attribute that involves the generation of original ideas; attention is a vital function that facilitates information selection. Past research has related these cognitive constructs, having found that highly creative people tend to be more distractible than those less creative, which allows them to produce more novel associations. This thesis aimed to test the relationship between these two processes using multiple tests of creativity (e.g., achievement, divergent thinking, and collage-making) and attention (e.g., focused, sustained, selective, and divided attention), which represented the complexity of each construct, and improved upon the methods previously reported. Additionally, the performance of participants with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was compared to those without. Four studies were carried out. Within the first two, creativity scores were compared and related to attention scores, within and between control and ADHD groups. No consistent relationships were found. The ADHD group had higher creativity scores on average, but the differences were not significant. Study three incorporated eye-tracking techniques to explore the effect of visual stimulation on creativity and attention performance between-groups. It was found that the ADHD group looked at the attention task targets significantly less, yet their performance was not significantly worse. No between-group differences in creativity were found. The visually stimulating environment did not affect performance. Study four investigated the effect of an incubation period on creativity. Results showed that incubation increased the proportion of original ideas, but performance did not vary according to incubation task demand. However, self-report responses indicated that participants did not sufficiently engage in the incubation period, as they continued to think consciously of solutions. The link between creativity and attention is not supported, and the idea that ADHD is beneficial to creativity is not fully upheld. Further research should examine creativity and attention in work or university settings, to consider the existence of a ‘real life' relationship.

Há poucos estudos voltados para a heterogeneidade do transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividade (TDAH) em adultos, apesar de ser um transtorno psiquiátrico comum. As freqüentes associações do TDAH com outros problemas psiquiátricos aumentam a sua morbidade. Dentre essas comorbidades, destacase o transtorno depressivo maior (TDM), que além de ser freqüente influencia o impacto e a abordagem terapêutica do TDAH. Foram avaliados 320 adultos em atendimento ambulatorial para TDAH. O diagnóstico seguiu os critérios do DSM-IV. As entrevistas foram realizadas com a versão em português do K-SADS-E para TDAH e transtorno opositor desafiante (TOD), e com o SCID-IV de transtornos do eixo I para as comorbidades psiquiátricas. Os diagnósticos foram confirmados por avaliação clínica. Modelos de regressão foram aplicados para testar a associação entre a ocorrência de TDM e os desfechos clínicos e demográficos avaliados. Os indivíduos com TDAH e TDM apresentaram maior freqüência de diagnóstico de transtornos de ansiedade e experiência de tratamento prévio (tanto psicoterápico quanto farmacológico) quando comparados a indivíduos com TDAH, sem TDM. Por outro lado, apresentaram menos freqüentemente diagnóstico de dependência de drogas e histórico escolar de repetência ou suspensões de classe. Não houve diferença significativa entre os grupos com ou sem TDM quanto à idade do diagnóstico de TDAH. Os achados sugerem uma utilidade do diagnóstico de TDM como um indicador relevante de determinadas características clínicas em adultos com TDAH. A maior procura por tratamento relacionada ao TDM não foi acompanhada de um diagnóstico mais precoce do TDAH, como seria esperado. Se confirmados, esses dados apontam para a necessidade de pesquisas e educação médica voltadas para um reconhecimento mais eficiente e precoce do TDAH em pacientes que buscam atendimento em saúde mental por outras causas. / There are few studies on the heterogeneity of adult ADHD, despite it is a common psychiatric disorder. The frequent comorbidity between ADHD and other psychiatric problems, increases the morbidity of the disorder. Major depressive disorder (MDD) stands out between other ADHD comorbidities, since it is frequent and influences ADHD outcomes and therapeutic approach. Three hundred and twenty adult outpatients were evaluated for ADHD. Diagnosis followed DSM-IV criteria. Interviews to evaluate ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) were performed based on the Portuguese-language version of K-SADS-E and Psychiatric comorbidities were evaluated using SCID-IV for axis I disorders. Diagnoses were confirmed by clinical interview. Regression models were applied to test MDD association with clinical and demographic outcomes. Subjects presenting ADHD and MDD had a higher frequency of anxiety diagnosis and prior experience of psychotherapy and/or pharmacological treatment when compared to ADHD subjects free of MDD. On the other hand, they reported less often drug dependence diagnosis, grade repetition and school suspensions. There was no significant difference between groups with or without MDD on the age at ADHD diagnosis. These findings suggest that the MDD diagnosis may be useful as an important indicator of certain clinical characteristics in adults with ADHD. The more frequent search for treatment attributable to MDD diagnosis was not accompanied by an earlier ADHD diagnosis, as expected. If confirmed, the present data point to the need for research and medical education towards an earlier and more efficient ADHD diagnosis in patients who search for mental health care for other reasons.

Nos dias atuais, uma atenção que não seja seletiva, focal, sustentada e voluntária é tratada como desatenção. Neste contexto, a hipercinesia do corpo é entendida, muitas vezes, como um sintoma passível de medicalização. Mas existe uma relação direta entre a quietude do corpo e o estar atento do sujeito? Na busca por respostas para este e outros questionamentos, foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo onde se observou a dinâmica de um grupo de crianças no ambiente escolar, nos seus dois primeiros anos do Ensino Fundamental de nove anos. O material empírico compôs-se de registros realizados durante os anos de 2006 e 2007, através de caderno de campo, fotografias, filmagens, entrevistas semi-estruturadas com pais, educadores e crianças, bem como análise de documentos escolares, a fim de poder relacionar dinâmica corporal e o funcionamento da atenção de um grupo de crianças em diferentes atividades. A análise dos dados foi realizada apoiada na perspectiva teóricometodológica proposta pela Rede de Significações - RedSig (2004) e a mulher rendeira, suas almofadas, alfinetes, linhas e bilros foram as metáforas usadas para descrever o percurso metodológico. Assim sendo, foi na relação entre “pesquisadora-rendeira” e seus bilros (crianças, educadoras, pais e contextos) que esta pesquisa aconteceu, ou numa outra escrita, se fizeram os fios para a tecitura desta renda de bilros. Buscou-se assim, com os fios encontrados, tecer por meio destes corpos/ sujeitos e que agora se fazem bilro, uma renda de relações que possibilitasse um outro olhar sobre o corpo e sua motricidade no estar atento da criança em diferentes atividades. Esta pesquisa aponta para o fato de que “atenção” é uma palavra com muitos significados e também que o que se entende por atenção, pode ser diferente do que se percebe no sujeito atento. E propõe também a existência de duas manifestações involuntárias na dinâmica do corpo, que podem sugerir um estar atento à tarefa ou situação, são elas: o tônus atencional e as sincinesias. Lembramos, no entanto, que estas (in)conclusões surgiram à partir da convivência com muitos sujeitos, em diferentes contextos. E também, que o que se fez aqui não foi uma correlação direta entre símbolo e significado, pois acreditamos que o linguajar do corpo se faz na relação com o outro. / Nowadays, an attention which is not selective, focal, sustained and voluntary is deemed as inattention. In this context the body hyperkinesis is understood, many times, as a symptom susceptible to medicalization. Is there a direct connection between the body quietude and the ‘be attentive’ state of the subject? In search for answers for this and other questions, a field survey was done where the corporal dynamics of a group of children in the school environment was observed in the first two years out of nine of the Elementary School. The empirical material is constituted of registrations done during the years of 2006 and 2007, through a field registration book, photos, video recordings, a semi-structured interview with parents, educators and children, as well as school documents analysis with the intention to be able to relate the corporal dynamics and the attention functioning of a group of children in different activities. The data analysis was done supported in the theory-methodology perspective proposed by the Rede de Significações – RedSig (2004) and the lacemaker, her cushions, pins, threads and bobbin laces were the metaphors used to describe the methodological route. Therefore, it was in the relation between “surveyor-lacemaker” and her bobbin laces (children, educators, parents and contexts) that this survey took place, or in other words, the threads were made for the braiding of this bobbin lace. The endeavour was to, with the threads found, braid through these bodies/subjects that now are turned into bobbin laces, a lace of relations that make possible a new view about the body and its motricity in the being attentive of a child in different activities. The survey indicated the fact that “attention” is a word with many meanings and also what is understood as attention may be different from what is perceived in the ‘be attentive’ state of the subject. It also proposes the existence of two involuntary manifestations in the body dynamics, that might suggest a state of being attentive to the task or situation which are: the attentional tonus and the synkinesis. Reminding although that these (in)conclusiveness came from the closeness with many subjects in different contexts. Also, what was done here was not a direct correlation between symbol and meaning, because we believe the body language is done in relation with the other.

O armazenamento e/ou o acesso automático e preciso dos fatos aritméticos básicos da memória de longo prazo têm sido apontados como habilidades prejudicadas em crianças com dificuldades aritméticas e com Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção/Hiperatividade. Em vista disso, esse grupo de estudantes acaba por utilizar procedimentos de contagem mais imaturos do que seus pares sem dificuldades. O objetivo principal deste estudo é avaliar a eficácia de um programa de ensino de fatos básicos aditivos, como um recurso para a mudança de um procedimento baseado na contagem para outro apoiado na memória. Para alcançar essa meta, a pesquisa consta de dois estudos. O primeiro busca identificar e descrever os procedimentos de contagem e os processos de memória utilizados por um grupo de 28 estudantes, com idades entre 8 anos e 14 anos, com TDAH-D ou TDAH-C que participam do Programa de Transtornos de Déficit de Atenção/Hiperatividade (PRODAH/HCPA). Os resultados indicaram que os estudantes continuavam usando procedimentos de contagem considerados imaturos além da série esperada e que, dentre os processos de memória, a decomposição era o mais usado. Para o segundo estudo, foram convidadas a participar as crianças que utilizaram procedimentos de contagem no estudo 1. Dessa forma, o segundo estudo visa avaliar a eficácia de um modelo de intervenção pedagógica dirigida ao ensino de fatos básicos aditivos, como um recurso para o avanço nos procedimentos de contagem em 7 crianças com Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção/Hiperatividade com idade média de 9,8 anos. Trata-se de uma pesquisa experimental com ensaio clínico controlado randomizado, cego, em paralelo. Resultados demonstraram que o modelo de intervenção pedagógica testado é promissor para a mudança de um procedimento de contagem para um apoiado na memória. Os resultados sugerem que: 1) um programa de ensino cuidadosamente desenhado proporciona avanço para um processo de memória e 2) estudantes com TDAH necessitam de mais tempo de prática em um procedimento aliado a um ensino explícito. / The storage and/or automatic and accurate access of the basic facts of addition from the long term memory have been registered as impaired abilities in children with arithmetical difficulties and with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). As a result, this group of students ultimately uses more immature counting procedures than their without difficulty peers. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a program for teaching basic facts of addition, as a resource for a procedure change, based on the counting to other procedure supported by memory. To achieve this goal, the research consists of two studies. The first one seeks to identify and describe the counting procedures and memory processes used by a group of 28 students, aged between 8 and 14 years, with ADHD-I or ADHD-C who participated in the Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Program (PRODAH/HCPA). The results indicated that students still were using counting procedures considered immature beyond the expected series and that, among the memory processes, the decomposition was the most used one. For the second study, there were invited to participate children who used counting procedures of study 1. Thus, the second study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a educational intervention model directed to the teaching of basic facts of addition, as a resource to the advancement in the counting procedures on 7 children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder with an average age of 9,8 years. This is an experimental research with randomized controlled clinical trial, blind, in parallel. The results showed that the tested educational intervention model is promising to change a counting procedure for one supported by memory. The results show that: 1) a carefully designed education program provides advance for a memory process and 2) students with ADHD need more practice time in a procedure, linked to a specific teaching.

One hypothesis regarding the etiology of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), is to conceptualize the disorder as an "inhibition" disorder. Furthermore, it has been suggested that inhibition is not a single all-encompassing construct, but rather a series of closely related processes. There has been limited examination as to whether children with ADHD are impaired on measures of cognitive inhibition (also known as proactive and retroactive interference). This project examined children with ADHD's susceptibility to proactive and retroactive interference in both verbal and visual-spatial modalities in comparison to typically developing children utilizing a novel coding system of the Children's Memory Scale (CMS). It was found that children with ADHD exhibited greater levels of visual-spatial retroactive interference than their typically developing peers. Additionally, children with ADHD did not differ from controls on any measure of verbal interference. Implications for clinical practice and future directions for research are discussed.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) likely involves fundamental alterations in self-regulation. These problems typically have been viewed as involving disruptions in the regulation of cognition and behavior. However, they also have been hypothesized to involve disruptions in emotion regulation. If so, parenting behaviors may take on renewed importance in ADHD, because parents play an essential role in children developing the ability to regulate their emotions independently. Three studies examined the association between emotion regulation and ADHD. Study 1 examined autonomic nervous system functioning during the experience and regulation of both positive and negative emotions. Study 2 examined coherence among autonomic and behavioral emotional systems. Finally, Study 3 examined the roles of parenting behavior, parental expressed emotion, and child autonomic nervous system functioning. In Studies 1 and 2, participants with ADHD and typically developing youth aged 7 to 11 years old completed an emotion induction and suppression procedure. For Study 3, participants completed a parent-child interaction task coded for parental behavior, and parents completed a five-minute speech sample coded for expressed emotion. Electrocardiogram and impedance cardiography were monitored for children across all three studies. The following results were notable. In Study 1, children with ADHD showed atypical autonomic inflexibility (i.e., elevated parasympathetic and sympathetic responding across task conditions). Additionally, children with ADHD were divided according to levels of prosocial behavior. Unlike other children with ADHD, children with very low levels of prosocial behavior displayed blunted autonomic activity across task conditions. In Study 2, specific patterns of reduced coherence among emotion regulatory systems (i.e., facial affective behavior and autonomic nervous system reactivity) were observed among children with ADHD. Finally, in Study 3, high levels of parental expressed emotion were associated uniquely with ADHD, even after controlling for comorbid symptoms. In contrast, parental intrusiveness was associated uniquely with child oppositional defiant and low prosocial behavior, even after controlling for ADHD symptoms. Furthermore, specific, different patterns of autonomic reactivity during the parent-child interaction were associated with ADHD and oppositional defiant behaviors. Across these studies, it is concluded that intrinsic and extrinsic emotion and emotion regulatory systems are disrupted among children with ADHD.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:35:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013-02-04Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:06:18Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 schicotti_rvo_dr_assis.pdf: 879615 bytes, checksum: 533daf9eccfb0d6452c4c3b6d18c2df4 (MD5) / Segundo o Fórum sobre Medicalização da Educação e da Sociedade, de 2005 a 2010 houve um aumento da compra do metilfenidato pelos órgãos públicos em torno de 1400%. Deste modo, contextualizar e compreender o crescente número de diagnósticos do Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção/Hiperatividade, bem como o aumento da venda de medicamentos para este transtorno, tem sido uma empreitada comum de muitos autores que se dedicam ao tema da infância. O presente trabalho visa compreender os significados e as peculiaridades da sintomatologia do TDAH, elucidando a polissemia imbricada na singularidade de cada caso particular. Os objetivos específicos foram: identificar as experiências singulares de crianças, pais e professores e entender os sentidos comunicados por suas queixas e dificuldades; apontar algumas correlações entre certos traços da nossa cultura e a atual proliferação de diagnósticos do referido transtorno. Para tanto, realizei um trabalho de psicodiagnóstico com crianças que foram encaminhadas para atendimento psicológico em uma cidade do interior paulista. Foram atendidos três casos de crianças diagnosticadas com TDAH, todas medicadas com metilfenidato e/ou outros medicamentos, as quais foram acompanhadas por médicos neuropediatras e psicólogos. Deste modo, optei por trabalhar com o método psicanalítico. Este se enquadra em um modelo de pesquisa qualitativa, visto que neste enquadre o conhecimento tem um caráter interpretativo, na medida em que é construído em um processo de atribuição de sentidos. Assim, partindo da bibliografia estudada, dos casos atendidos e do olhar psicanalítico, pude constatar que na contemporaneidade, tornou-se cada vez mais raro abster-se das tecnologias medicamentosas/biológicas para educar crianças e adolescentes. Foi frequente a... / According to the Forum of Education and Society Medicalization, from 2005 to 2010, there was an increase in the purchase of methylphenidate by public agencies, around 1400%. Thus, contextualizing and understanding the growing number of diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, as well as the increasing of sales of drugs for this disorder, it has been an ordinary venture of many authors who dedicate themselves to the theme of childhood. This study aims to understand the meanings and the peculiarities of the symptoms of ADHD, explaining the different meanings embedded in the uniqueness of each individual case. The specific objectives were: identifying the unique experiences of children, parentes, and teachers as well as understanding the meanings communicated by their complaints and difficulties; demonstrating some correlations between certain traits of our culture and the current proliferation of the diagnoses of the said disorder. Therefore, I performed a work of psychodiagnostic with children who were referred for psychological care in an inland city of São Paulo state. Three cases of children diagnosed with ADHD were seen, all of them medicated with methylphenidate and / or other drugs, which were accompanied by neuropediatricians and psychologists. Thus, I chose to work with the psychoanalytic method. This fits itself into a model of qualitative research, since knowledge has an interpretive character frame, as it is built on a process of assigning senses. Thus, based on the literature studied, the cases treated, and psychoanalytical study, I found out that, nowadays, it has become increasingly rare to abstain from drug/biologic technologies to educate children and teenagers. It was common the observation of lack of discrimination between parents‟ and children‟s places. The family dynamics... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Nos dias atuais, uma atenção que não seja seletiva, focal, sustentada e voluntária é tratada como desatenção. Neste contexto, a hipercinesia do corpo é entendida, muitas vezes, como um sintoma passível de medicalização. Mas existe uma relação direta entre a quietude do corpo e o estar atento do sujeito? Na busca por respostas para este e outros questionamentos, foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo onde se observou a dinâmica de um grupo de crianças no ambiente escolar, nos seus dois primeiros anos do Ensino Fundamental de nove anos. O material empírico compôs-se de registros realizados durante os anos de 2006 e 2007, através de caderno de campo, fotografias, filmagens, entrevistas semi-estruturadas com pais, educadores e crianças, bem como análise de documentos escolares, a fim de poder relacionar dinâmica corporal e o funcionamento da atenção de um grupo de crianças em diferentes atividades. A análise dos dados foi realizada apoiada na perspectiva teóricometodológica proposta pela Rede de Significações - RedSig (2004) e a mulher rendeira, suas almofadas, alfinetes, linhas e bilros foram as metáforas usadas para descrever o percurso metodológico. Assim sendo, foi na relação entre “pesquisadora-rendeira” e seus bilros (crianças, educadoras, pais e contextos) que esta pesquisa aconteceu, ou numa outra escrita, se fizeram os fios para a tecitura desta renda de bilros. Buscou-se assim, com os fios encontrados, tecer por meio destes corpos/ sujeitos e que agora se fazem bilro, uma renda de relações que possibilitasse um outro olhar sobre o corpo e sua motricidade no estar atento da criança em diferentes atividades. Esta pesquisa aponta para o fato de que “atenção” é uma palavra com muitos significados e também que o que se entende por atenção, pode ser diferente do que se percebe no sujeito atento. E propõe também a existência de duas manifestações involuntárias na dinâmica do corpo, que podem sugerir um estar atento à tarefa ou situação, são elas: o tônus atencional e as sincinesias. Lembramos, no entanto, que estas (in)conclusões surgiram à partir da convivência com muitos sujeitos, em diferentes contextos. E também, que o que se fez aqui não foi uma correlação direta entre símbolo e significado, pois acreditamos que o linguajar do corpo se faz na relação com o outro. / Nowadays, an attention which is not selective, focal, sustained and voluntary is deemed as inattention. In this context the body hyperkinesis is understood, many times, as a symptom susceptible to medicalization. Is there a direct connection between the body quietude and the ‘be attentive’ state of the subject? In search for answers for this and other questions, a field survey was done where the corporal dynamics of a group of children in the school environment was observed in the first two years out of nine of the Elementary School. The empirical material is constituted of registrations done during the years of 2006 and 2007, through a field registration book, photos, video recordings, a semi-structured interview with parents, educators and children, as well as school documents analysis with the intention to be able to relate the corporal dynamics and the attention functioning of a group of children in different activities. The data analysis was done supported in the theory-methodology perspective proposed by the Rede de Significações – RedSig (2004) and the lacemaker, her cushions, pins, threads and bobbin laces were the metaphors used to describe the methodological route. Therefore, it was in the relation between “surveyor-lacemaker” and her bobbin laces (children, educators, parents and contexts) that this survey took place, or in other words, the threads were made for the braiding of this bobbin lace. The endeavour was to, with the threads found, braid through these bodies/subjects that now are turned into bobbin laces, a lace of relations that make possible a new view about the body and its motricity in the being attentive of a child in different activities. The survey indicated the fact that “attention” is a word with many meanings and also what is understood as attention may be different from what is perceived in the ‘be attentive’ state of the subject. It also proposes the existence of two involuntary manifestations in the body dynamics, that might suggest a state of being attentive to the task or situation which are: the attentional tonus and the synkinesis. Reminding although that these (in)conclusiveness came from the closeness with many subjects in different contexts. Also, what was done here was not a direct correlation between symbol and meaning, because we believe the body language is done in relation with the other.