Research relating to illicit use of prescription stimulants (IUPS) has, for the most part, focused on describing behaviors of IUPS. However, there have been few attempts to measure IUPS in a consistent manner or determine how to best predict IUPS in an effective and concise manner. Data from Mississippi State University undergraduates (N = 703) were analyzed to create two shortorm measures to predict lifetime IUPS. The data-driven shortorm consisted of 15 items and 5 factors, and accurately classified 74.8% of participants as users versus non-users. The hand-picked shortorm consisted of 8 items and 5 factors, and accurately classified 84.6% of participants as users versus non-users. Results of this study can begin to provide information and possible tactics for briefly and quickly measuring risk for IUPS, particularly in applied settings, like university health centers or academic admissions. Future directions for research include testing these created shortorm measures with longitudinal data collection, validating the measures on different populations, and determining if these measures can accurately predict specific behaviors related to IUPS (e.g., diversion, IUPS within certain time frames).

Class of 2017 Abstract / Objectives: To first educate undergraduates involved in social sororities about prescription stimulant medications and to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention in influencing the attitudes and beliefs regarding prescription stimulant medication use of undergraduates involved in a social sorority. Methods: The intervention, an educational session, was presented to undergraduates involved in social sororities. Questionnaire that included demographic data of gender, age, ethnicity, race, undergraduate year, grade point average, type of member, history of an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis, and previous or current non-medical use of prescription stimulants were collected. The participants’ beliefs on nine statements regarding prescription stimulants were queried pre- and post-intervention using a four-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. To analyze change in attitudes and beliefs, Mann-Whitney test was used. Results: One hundred sixty-three sorority members participated in the study. The average age of participants was 19 years with the majority of respondents identifying as an active sorority member (81%) and in their first year of undergraduate study (69%). There was a statistically significant change in beliefs regarding the safety (p < 0.01) and health risks (p = 0.02) associated with prescription stimulants. There was no significant difference in topics relating to addiction, legality, emotional and academic outcomes from the use of prescription stimulants. Conclusions: The education session was effective in changing participants’ beliefs on safety and health risks of nonmedical use of prescription stimulants.

Background: The growing number of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) underscores the importance of the role speech language pathologists play in addressing the language difficulties experienced by this population, including difficulties in narrative production, especially due to the close correlation between narrative performance and academic, as well as social, achievement. Although stimulant medication is the primary method of treatment for children with ADHD and is known to successfully address the behavioural and academic difficulties experienced by this population, few studies have focused on the effect of this medication on language difficulties. The need for speech-language services in the ADHD population is well documented in the literature, but it is not fully understood whether stimulant medication should be regarded as a replacement for, or an essential adjunct to speech language pathology services. Objectives: The goal of the current study was to investigate the effect of Methylphenidate-OROS® (MPH-OROS®) on the narrative ability of children with ADHD, through the analysis of microstructure and macrostructure elements. Research has shown that children with ADHD experience difficulty in planning, organizing, and monitoring narratives. The current study was based on evidence suggesting that MPH may improve aspects of language production through its effect on the primary symptoms of ADHD. Methods: A multiple single-subject pretest-posttest design was employed to examine the effect of MPH-OROS® on the narrative ability of children with ADHD. Wordless picture books were used to elicit narrative production as these books display the narrative structure valued by story grammar analysis (Stein & Glenn, 1979) while minimising the need for language comprehension and auditory memory capacity (McCabe, Bliss, Barra, & Bennett, 2008). Narratives were obtained from 12 children with ADHD (between the ages of 7 and 13 years). The children were presented with the wordless picture books for preview prior to the production of story narratives. The narratives were recorded and orthographically transcribed. For microstructure, narratives were coded using the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) (Miller & Iglasias, 2012) coding conventions. Number of words, type-token ratio, and mean length of utterance were determined. For macrostructure, the narratives were analyzed and coded according to the Narrative Scoring Scheme (NSS) (Miller, Andriacchi, DiVall-Rayan, & Lien, 2003) which includes introduction, character development, mental states, referencing, conflict resolution, cohesion, and conclusion as well as a composite score reflecting the child’s overall narrative ability. Results: The administration of MPH-OROS® had a significant effect on aspects of language macrostructure, namely conflict resolution and cohesion, as well as overall narrative ability, based on the NSS total score. Little effect was noted, however, in microstructure elements. The effect of stimulant medication differed between participants, with particular differences noted in measures of productivity. MPH-OROS® increased productivity in certain participants while decreasing productivity in the remaining participants. Conclusions: The positive effect of stimulant medication on the macrostructure elements conflict resolution and cohesion as well as overall narrative ability, in the absence of an improvement in microstructure linguistic elements, suggests that the language difficulties experienced by this population may be due to difficulties in executive functions as well as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, all of which may have a negative impact on early language acquisition. While stimulant medication improves behaviours of attention and concentration, it cannot fully compensate for the poor structural and pragmatic language abilities, and the accompanying cascading effects, associated with the primary symptoms of ADHD. Therefore, a combination of treatments is advocated so as to ensure that children with ADHD are successful in reaching their full potential. In addition, the results highlight the possibility that response to stimulant medication may differ between ADHD-presentations, based on the presence or absence of the hyperactive component of ADHD. / Dissertation (MCommunication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / MCommunication Pathology / Unrestricted

The cognitive and affective characteristics and responses to stimulant medication of children who were diagnosed as having attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (AD-HD) or undifferentiated-attention deficit disorder (UADD) were investigated using a pretest-posttest experimental design. Nineteen AD-HD and 17 UADD children were compared using unpaired t-tests, prior to initiation of stimulant medication, on measures of intellectual functioning, impulsivity, problem behavior, and self-reported depression and self-esteem. Children from both the AD-HD (n = 12) and UADD (n = 12) groups were then compared before and after a 3-month trial of stimulant medication on measures of impulsivity, problem behavior, and self-reported depression and self-esteem using repeated measures analyses of variance. No significant differences were found between groups in cognitive ability, impulsivity, depression, self-esteem, anxiety, peer relationships, or social withdrawal. AD-HD children were found to exhibit more hyperactive, aggressive, and delinquent problem behavior. Significant improvement was found in both groups in self-reported depression and self-esteem following a trial of stimulant medication. A trial of stimulant medication was found to reduce hyperactive problem behavior in AD-HD children. Stimulant medication had a beneficial effect on peer relationships and aggressive problem behavior in UADD children but did not produce similar positive effects in AD-HD children. These results are discussed as in relationship to the issue of whether AD-HD and UADD are separate syndromes and to the previous literature regarding attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD/H) and attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADD/WO). Ramifications regarding appropriate treatment are also discussed.

No description available.

Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by higher than normal levels of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Behavioural inhibition is proposed to be a primary deficit in children with ADHD, and is included as a component of a number of models accounting for the core behavioural symptoms of ADHD. Children with ADHD often show deficits in their performance on behavioural inhibition tasks relative to typically developing children of the same age, although inconsistent findings have been observed. Stimulant medication is associated with reduction in the core symptoms of ADHD in the majority of children. The primary goal of this thesis was to examine the effects of stimulant medication on behavioural inhibition in children with ADHD. Furthermore, this thesis sought to determine whether children with ADHD who have, and have not taken stimulant medication differ from normally developing children in terms of behavioural inhibition. In order to achieve these aims, it was necessary to firstly determine which tasks provide the best measures of behavioural inhibition. While many tasks have been used to measure inhibitory control amongst children with ADHD, it was unclear from previous research which tasks measure the same constructs. Study 1 investigated relationships in task performance among seven measures of inhibitory control, including the Stop-Signal task, Go / No-go task, Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART; analogous the not-X Continuous Performance Task), Eriksen Flanker task, Stroop, Opposite Worlds task and Task-Switching task. Significant developmental changes in a variety of cognitive abilities occur across childhood and adolescence. To limit the possibility that developmental changes in task performance would be observed, the age range for children included in the study was restricted to seven to 10 years. Nevertheless, to interpret correlations among inhibition measures from the tasks, it was necessary to determine whether children showed comparable developmental trends in their performance across tasks. Study 1A investigated developmental changes in the performances of the seven tasks purported to measure inhibitory control in normally developing children aged seven to 10 years. The results of this study suggested that the tasks chosen were appropriate for use among this age group, and that there is little change in behavioural inhibition across the seven to 10 years age range. In Study 1B, inhibition measures from each of the tasks were included in an exploratory factor analysis to determine those tasks measuring the same constructs. The results of Study 1B suggested that the Stop-Signal, Go / No-go and SART tasks provided the best measures of the behavioural inhibition construct. Performance on the Eriksen Flanker task was also related to the performance on these tasks, but in a direction contrary to that predicted. The Stroop and Opposite Worlds tasks measured the same construct, which appeared to be interference control. Performance on the Task-Switching task was not related to the performance on any other task, suggesting that this task did not measure behavioural inhibition or interference control. Study 2 investigated the performance of children with ADHD on the three tasks shown to be the best measures of behavioural inhibition in Study 1B (i.e., the Stop-Signal task, Go / No-go task and Sustained Attention to Response task). Children with ADHD were aged from seven to 11 years, and were tested both when they had, and had not taken their regularly prescribed stimulant medication. The performance of children with ADHD on these tasks was compared to that of normally developing children matched in age. The results of Study 2 suggested that stimulant medication leads to significant improvement in behavioral inhibition amongst children with ADHD, such that children with ADHD do not differ from matched controls. However, this effect was not observed across all three tasks. Reasons for this, along with study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by higher than normal levels of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Behavioural inhibition is proposed to be a primary deficit in children with ADHD, and is included as a component of a number of models accounting for the core behavioural symptoms of ADHD. Children with ADHD often show deficits in their performance on behavioural inhibition tasks relative to typically developing children of the same age, although inconsistent findings have been observed. Stimulant medication is associated with reduction in the core symptoms of ADHD in the majority of children. The primary goal of this thesis was to examine the effects of stimulant medication on behavioural inhibition in children with ADHD. Furthermore, this thesis sought to determine whether children with ADHD who have, and have not taken stimulant medication differ from normally developing children in terms of behavioural inhibition. In order to achieve these aims, it was necessary to firstly determine which tasks provide the best measures of behavioural inhibition. While many tasks have been used to measure inhibitory control amongst children with ADHD, it was unclear from previous research which tasks measure the same constructs. Study 1 investigated relationships in task performance among seven measures of inhibitory control, including the Stop-Signal task, Go / No-go task, Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART; analogous the not-X Continuous Performance Task), Eriksen Flanker task, Stroop, Opposite Worlds task and Task-Switching task. Significant developmental changes in a variety of cognitive abilities occur across childhood and adolescence. To limit the possibility that developmental changes in task performance would be observed, the age range for children included in the study was restricted to seven to 10 years. Nevertheless, to interpret correlations among inhibition measures from the tasks, it was necessary to determine whether children showed comparable developmental trends in their performance across tasks. Study 1A investigated developmental changes in the performances of the seven tasks purported to measure inhibitory control in normally developing children aged seven to 10 years. The results of this study suggested that the tasks chosen were appropriate for use among this age group, and that there is little change in behavioural inhibition across the seven to 10 years age range. In Study 1B, inhibition measures from each of the tasks were included in an exploratory factor analysis to determine those tasks measuring the same constructs. The results of Study 1B suggested that the Stop-Signal, Go / No-go and SART tasks provided the best measures of the behavioural inhibition construct. Performance on the Eriksen Flanker task was also related to the performance on these tasks, but in a direction contrary to that predicted. The Stroop and Opposite Worlds tasks measured the same construct, which appeared to be interference control. Performance on the Task-Switching task was not related to the performance on any other task, suggesting that this task did not measure behavioural inhibition or interference control. Study 2 investigated the performance of children with ADHD on the three tasks shown to be the best measures of behavioural inhibition in Study 1B (i.e., the Stop-Signal task, Go / No-go task and Sustained Attention to Response task). Children with ADHD were aged from seven to 11 years, and were tested both when they had, and had not taken their regularly prescribed stimulant medication. The performance of children with ADHD on these tasks was compared to that of normally developing children matched in age. The results of Study 2 suggested that stimulant medication leads to significant improvement in behavioral inhibition amongst children with ADHD, such that children with ADHD do not differ from matched controls. However, this effect was not observed across all three tasks. Reasons for this, along with study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DPhil (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / DPhil / Unrestricted

Much has been said and written over recent years about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. There is a certain amount of confusion as to what exactly the condition constitutes and controversy continues to rage regarding treatment. A significant number of children appear to be affected. Previously, parents and teachers ·were blamed for failing to discipline effectively. Often, the difficulties remained undiagnosed and untreated. Thanks to the wisdom of so many experts who have generously shared their knowledge and considerable expertise, there is an increased awareness of ADHD. Although there is no cure, there are ways to manage the difficulties. However, early diagnosis and intervention is critical. Since many different symptoms are associated with the disorder, a multi-modal treatment plan has been found to lead to a better outcome. For the purpose of this study, a multi-modal programme was planned to address the needs of a small group of children with ADHD and their parents. The intention was to empower the parents, within a supportive group environment, by providing them with knowledge about the disorder and guidelines for managing the difficult behaviour. In addition, an attempt was made to change the negative behaviour patterns of the children through the medium of story-telling. It was hoped that by reducing the levels of parental stress, parents would be more competent to cope with their educational demands, so that their children could be guided more positively towards adulthood. The results of the programme were positive. Teachers and parents reported better behaviour by the children. The parents' stress levels were reduced. The parents expressed greater understanding about the disorder and a hopefulness that they could better manage their children. They felt they had benefitted from the advice given by other parents who were facing similar challenges. However, they felt that a short-term programme was insufficient to address all their needs and they expressed a need for ongoing support. In view of the chronicity of the disorder and the constantly changing needs of the child on his journey towards adulthood, cognisance was taken of the fact that longterm intervention is essential. / Psychology of Education / D.Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Much has been said and written over recent years about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. There is a certain amount of confusion as to what exactly the condition constitutes and controversy continues to rage regarding treatment. A significant number of children appear to be affected. Previously, parents and teachers ·were blamed for failing to discipline effectively. Often, the difficulties remained undiagnosed and untreated. Thanks to the wisdom of so many experts who have generously shared their knowledge and considerable expertise, there is an increased awareness of ADHD. Although there is no cure, there are ways to manage the difficulties. However, early diagnosis and intervention is critical. Since many different symptoms are associated with the disorder, a multi-modal treatment plan has been found to lead to a better outcome. For the purpose of this study, a multi-modal programme was planned to address the needs of a small group of children with ADHD and their parents. The intention was to empower the parents, within a supportive group environment, by providing them with knowledge about the disorder and guidelines for managing the difficult behaviour. In addition, an attempt was made to change the negative behaviour patterns of the children through the medium of story-telling. It was hoped that by reducing the levels of parental stress, parents would be more competent to cope with their educational demands, so that their children could be guided more positively towards adulthood. The results of the programme were positive. Teachers and parents reported better behaviour by the children. The parents' stress levels were reduced. The parents expressed greater understanding about the disorder and a hopefulness that they could better manage their children. They felt they had benefitted from the advice given by other parents who were facing similar challenges. However, they felt that a short-term programme was insufficient to address all their needs and they expressed a need for ongoing support. In view of the chronicity of the disorder and the constantly changing needs of the child on his journey towards adulthood, cognisance was taken of the fact that longterm intervention is essential. / Psychology of Education / D.Ed. (Psychology of Education)