Antisocial behaviour and alcohol problems are areas of great concern to society, not only associated with personal and emotional costs for the affected individuals and their victims, but also with major societal financial costs. What makes some individuals more likely than others to develop these kinds of problems? The general aim of this thesis was to explore the role of individual characteristics in the development of antisocial behaviour and alcohol problems. More specifically, the research focused on aspects of hyperactive behaviour, personality traits and biological vulnerability indicators in relation to self-reported norm breaking and violent behaviour, registered general criminality and violent offending in particular, and further, on risky alcohol use and drinking offences. The studies were based on both a prospective longitudinal project in which a group of adolescent male lawbreakers and controls were followed from the 1960s into the 1990s, and on more recently collected data on a representative group of Swedish male and female adolescents. The results of the thesis supported that neuropsychological deficits, manifested in attention difficulties, and personality traits reflecting disinhibition and negative emotionality, influence the development of antisocial behaviour and risky alcohol use, which in turn increases the risk of subsequent alcohol problems. The findings indicated, furthermore, that these neuropsychological deficits may be associated with an underlying biological vulnerability to various forms of disinhibitory psychopathology. Although the thesis focuses on individual characteristics, the results also support the view that environmental risk factors such as the influence of family and peers and possible stress experiences, play an important role. It was emphasized that individual characteristics continuously interact with environmental conditions in shaping each individual’s developmental course. Results also revealed that adolescent females displaying violent behaviour and engaging in potentially harmful use of alcohol deviated more in personality traits than did the corresponding group of males. Further knowledge of the development of these problems in females is crucial, since most theories in this area have been developed primarily on male samples.

Syfte: Att undersöka om det fanns något samband mellan behandling med centralstimulantia ochavvikande tillväxt hos barn och ungdomar med ADHD, samt att undersöka om eventuellt avvikandetillväxt hade något samband med ålder vid insättande, kön eller olika funktionshinder.Metod: 68 barn med ADHD som behandlats med centralstimulantia i minst två år inkluderades.Journalkopior inhämtades från Habiliteringen för barn och vuxna vid Uppsala läns landsting. Dessakopior innehöll barnens tillväxtkurvor, kön, diagnos och ålder. Kurvorna granskades med hjälp av enutformad granskningsmall. Barnens tillväxt jämfördes mellan åldergrupper, kön och olikafunktionshinder.Resultat: Vid behandlingsstart var åldersgrupperna 6-8 år samt 12-16 år signifikant tyngre ännormalpopulationen i samma åldersgrupper. Det fanns en signifikant skillnad mellan åldergrupperna ilängdavplaning efter ett års behandling, där fler barn i åldrarna 10-16 år avplanade än barn i åldrarna6-10 år. Även mellan funktionshindergrupperna fanns det en signifikant skillnad i längdavplaning eftertvå års behandling. Mellan pojkar och flickor fanns det en signifikant skillnad i viktavplaning efter tvåårs behandling, där fler pojkar avvek nedåt från sin tillväxtkurva.Slutsats: Det framkom få samband mellan behandling med centralstimulantia och avvikande tillväxthos barn och ungdomar med ADHD. Ett litet urval i denna journalgranskning innebar låg power i destatistiska analyserna vilket medförde svårigheter att påvisa signifikanta samband och skillnadermellan de grupper som jämförts. Avplaning i tillväxt vid centralstimulantiabehandling är ett viktigtansvarsområde för sjuksköterskan som bör observera och arbeta förebyggande för att undvika detta.Författarna vidhåller att detta är ett viktigt ämne som berör många barn, föräldrar och sociala instanser,vilket gör det önskvärt med fler större studier som undersöker detta mer grundligt. / Objective: To study whether there was any relation between treatment with stimulants and abnormalgrowth in children and adolescents with ADHD, and to study whether any differences in growth wasrelated to age at initiation, gender or different disabilities.Design: 68 children with ADHD treated with stimulants for at least two years were included. Journalcopies were collected from Habiliteringen vid Uppsala län. These copies contained the children'sgrowth charts, gender, diagnosis and age. These curves were studied using a designed review template.Children's growth was compared between age groups, gender and disabilities.Results: At baseline, the age groups 6-8 years and 12-16 years were significantly heavier than normalpopulation of same age groups. There was a significant difference between age groups in decrease inlength after one year of treatment where more children aged 10-16 years decreases than children aged6-10 years. Also among other disability groups, there was a significant difference in decrease in lengthafter two years of treatment. Between boys and girls, there was a significant difference in decrease inweight after two years of treatment, where more boys departed downward from its growth curve.Conclusion: There were few correlations between treatment with stimulants and abnormal growth inchildren and adolescents with ADHD. A small sample in this journal review meant low power in thestatistical analysis leading to an inability to detect significant correlation and differences between thegroups for comparison. Decrese in growth during treatment with stimulants is an importantresponsibility for the nurse who should observe and work preventively to avoid this. The authorsmaintain that this is an important topic that affects many children, parents and social instances, makingit desirable for more major studies to investigate this more thoroughly.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Faculty of Education) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis supervisor: Lee Anna Clark. Includes bibliographic references (p. 92-107).

Thesis (M. Ed.(Opv. Sielk.)--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. S.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Title from PDF of title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 142 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

A quantitave study was done on children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders in primary schools. The main aim was to measure IQ and to find out if there are indicators of organicity. The hypotheses of the study were as follows: (i) Children diagnosed with ADHD will obtain lower scores on IQ tests than children not diagnosed with ADHD; (ii) Children diagnosed with ADHD have some form of neurological deficit or organicity The study consisted of a sample 25 children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders and the children who were never diagnosed with the disorder. The sample and the control group range from the age of six (6) to 13 years. Data was collected using Bendor Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Senior South African Individual Scale Revised. Descriptive Statistics. Chi-square Test and Mann-Whitney Test were used to determine the difference between the sample and the control group. The results indicated that there is significant difference between children with ADHD and the control group on both verbal and non-verbal IQ tests. This means that children who were diagnosed with ADHD scored lower on measures •of IQ. The differences may have been due to IQ. or the ADHD group was distracted enough to perform significantly worse on reading. spelling, mathematics, comprehension and written tasks. The results on the Chi-square indicated that there is a relationship between the presence and ADHD and organicity. The findings in this study will aid teachers and parents (especially in African communities), to find out more about the children who they think are just problematic children.

The purpose of this study was to investigate educators perceptions of the impact of the / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Previous research has identified motor deficits within the ADHD population, and indicates that these individuals are at an increased risk for difficulties relating to their motor development. The present study, which utilized discriminant function analysis, was unable to document areas of motor impairment for individuals diagnosed with ADHD. Specifically, no evidence of motor impairment was identified on tasks of motor coordination, fine motor dexterity, motor speed and grip strength, which measures the integrity of the motor system at the basic output level. Interestingly, results identified that individuals with ADHD were more proficient in their motor abilities than the normative population. Two mitigating factors were controlled for in this study and were found to impact performance on motor tasks. First, higher level thinking skills such as verbal comprehension, attention control, cognitive sequencing, working memory and executive functions appear to be more responsible for documented performance deficits than an underlying motor deficit. Secondly, the high prevalence of comorbid psychiatric and medical disorders, inherent to the ADHD population, appears to negatively impact performance on motor tasks. In general, individuals with only a diagnosis of ADHD consistently outperformed individuals who had been diagnosed with ADHD and comorbid disorders.This study also examined the sensory and subcortical abilities of individuals with ADHD. Results indicate that these children are similar to their same age peers in their visual perception, visual acuity, auditory discrimination and tactile perception. Finally, this study was unable to identify evidence of impairment in the subcortical abilities of ADHD individuals. In fact, individuals with only a diagnosis of ADHD outperformed the control group across a majority of tasks assessing subcortical abilities. Comorbidity also appears to negatively impact performance on sensory and subcortical tasks, especially for individuals with comorbid medical conditions. Overall, results from this study impact the field of research which previously identified motor performance deficits in the ADHD population. Further research is needed to examine the sensory and motor abilities of ADHD individuals to understand the performance abilities of individuals with ADHD. / Department of Educational Psychology

A quantitave study was done on children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders in primary schools. The main aim was to measure IQ and to find out if there are indicators of organicity. The hypotheses of the study were as follows: (i) Children diagnosed with ADHD will obtain lower scores on IQ tests than children not diagnosed with ADHD; (ii) Children diagnosed with ADHD have some form of neurological deficit or organicity The study consisted of a sample 25 children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders and the children who were never diagnosed with the disorder. The sample and the control group range from the age of six ( 6) to 13 years. Data was collected using Bendor Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Senior South African Individual Scale Revised. Descriptive Statistics, Chi-square Test and Mann-Whitney Test were used to determine the difference between the sample and the control group. The results indicated that there is significant difference between children with ADHD and the control group on both verbal and non-verbal IQ tests. This means that children who were diagnosed with ADHD scored lower on measures "of IQ. The differences may have been due to IQ. or the ADHD group was distracted enough to perform significantly worse on reading, spelling, mathematics, comprehension and written tasks. The results on the Chi-square indicated that there is a relationship between the presence and ADHD and organicity. The findings in this study will aid teachers and parents (especially in African communities), to find out more about the children who they think are just problematic children. ii A quantitative study was done on children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders in primary schools. The main aim was to measure IQ and to find out if there are indicators of organicity. The hypotheses of the study were as follows: (i) Children diagnosed with ADHD will obtain lower scores on IQ tests than children not diagnosed with ADHD; (ii) Children diagnosed with ADHD have some form of neurological deficit or organicity The study consisted of a sample 25 children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders and the children who were never diagnosed with the disorder. The sample and the control group range from the age of six ( 6) to 13 years. Data was collected using Bendor Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Senior South African Individual Scale Revised. Descriptive Statistics, Chi-square Test and Mann-Whitney Test were used to determine the difference between the sample and the control group. The results indicated that there is significant difference between children with ADHD and the control group on both verbal and non-verbal IQ tests. This means that children who were diagnosed with ADHD scored lower on measures "of IQ. The differences may have been due to IQ. or the ADHD group was distracted enough to perform significantly worse on reading, spelling, mathematics, comprehension and written tasks. The results on the Chi-square indicated that there is a relationship between the presence and ADHD and organicity. The findings in this study will aid teachers and parents (especially in African communities), to find out more about the children who they think are just problematic children. / M.Soc.Sc. (Clinical Psychology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006