Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a complicated psychiatric disorder that is typically first diagnosed in childhood and associated with negative outcomes in adulthood such as poor academic performance and difficulties with social relationships. ADHD can be difficult to accurately diagnose in adulthood, given the absence of clear, agreed upon ADHD symptomology in adults. In the current study, two raters used psychometrically sound instruments and diagnostically valid assessment techniques on an archival dataset to create three distinct groups: ADHD [2/3 with other mental health diagnosis (OMH)], OMH only, and no diagnosis. Findings support the value of comprehensive assessment, combined with a thorough evaluation of the material by a trained clinician, for the accurate diagnosis of ADHD for research purposes. Comparisons were made across groups to infer that college students with ADHD have lower grade point averages and academic self-concept than students without mental health diagnoses. Yet, contrary to much of the current literature, college students with ADHD seem to create as strong, deep, supportive and harmonious relationships with loved ones and close friends as their non-diagnosed peers. Clinicians working with college students with ADHD may use the results of the current study to better inform conceptualization, better recognize the innate resilience college students with ADHD likely have, and inform treatment interventions.

Sammanfattning Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva arbetsterapeuters kliniska resonemang samt erfarenheter av interventioner för att främja delaktighet i aktivitet hos barn med ADHD. Metod: Studien var baserad på en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer för att undersöka arbetsterapeuternas kliniska resonemang och erfarenheter. Sex arbetsterapeuter från olika regioner i Sverige deltog i studien. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes för att undersöka erfarenheter av interventioner vilka därefter analyserades deduktivt för att identifiera kliniska resonmang. Resultat: Resultatet redovisades i ett övergripande tema; Att möta barnet och familjen i den aktuella situationen med tre kategorier; Hela familjen som klient, Kartläggning av aktivitetsutförande för en lyckad intervention och Resonemang kring yrkesetiska aspekter. Resultatet visade att klientcentrering var kärnan i deltagarnas kliniska resonemang där empati, samarbete och kommunikation var viktiga aspekter att resonera kring. Deltagarnas erfarenhet var att det mest betydelsefulla för att främja delaktighet i aktivitet hos barn med ADHD var inlärning av strategier för att hantera barnets begränsningar i vardagen. Utöver det var olika former av kognitivt stöd vanligt förekommande interventioner. Slutsats: Studien har bidragit till ökad insikt i arbetsterapeuters erfarenhet av interventioner i arbetet med barn med ADHD samt en ökad förståelse för arbetsterapeuters kliniska resonemang.

Basic criteria for determination of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) include hyperactivity, impulsivity, and distractibility. Four scales of the Personality Inventory for Children have been found to be useful in the diagnosis of ADHD. Impulsivity and distractibility can affect scores on the Hand Movements, Number Recall, Word Order, Spatial Memory, Arithmetic, Riddles, and Matrix Analogies subtests of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. Subjects were 100 children, aged six through 13 who were referred for psychological assessment. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a correlation between scores on the four scales of the PIC and the designated subtest scores on the KABC. Four correlations were significant, but of low magnitude.

Background. Numerous clinical trials demonstrate the efficacy of medication and behavioral treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children, but provision of behavioral treatment for ADHD is limited in community clinics and only the pharmacological treatment is the standard care for children with ADHD. The current study evaluated the treatment effectiveness of combining psychosocial treatment to methylphenidate and to compare this combined treatment with medication alone in treating ADHD in children of a community mental health center in Hong Kong. Psychosocial treatment consisted of parent training and child intervention. The treatment group for children was a 24-week problem solving, anger coping, and social skills training program. Parent training consisted of 18 weekly sessions, highlighting parenting as an integration of elements of cognition, emotion, and behavior, as well as introducing effective parenting techniques based on social learning principles. Method. A group of 146 consecutive child patients with ADHD symptoms attending Yaumatei Child Psychiatric Center were invited for screening their eligibility of participating in this study. A randomized group comparison design was used with two treatment conditions (medication-only; combined medication and psychosocial treatment) and four assessment time points. Ninety eligible child-parent dyads were randomly allocated to the combined treatment condition or medication-only condition. Treatment outcomes were assessed in multiple domains at pre-intervention and post-intervention, and at 6-month and 12-month follow-ups. Data was analyzed through intent-to-treat mixed-effects regression model. / Conclusions. The combined treatment condition not only yielded significantly greater benefits than the medication-only condition on primary ADHD symptoms, but also other advantages in terms of conduct problem and adaptive functioning outcomes. / Results. Regarding ADHD symptoms, children in combined treatment condition showed significantly greater improvement than those given medication alone at post-treatment assessment. Combined treatment also proved better than medication alone in several other domains, such as oppositional behavior, a child's performance on computerized test, parenting behavior, and parental accurate knowledge of ADHD. Parental treatment-related attributions were also found to be changing over the course of treatment. Follow-up assessments revealed that children in the combined treatment condition maintained greater reduction in oppositional behavior one year after the completion of psychosocial treatment. / So Yuk-chi. / "May 2005." / Adviser: Patrick W. L. Leung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: B, page: 4119. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 222-247). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder with onset at preschool age Approximately 5-10% of school-aged children worldwide have ADHD. Psychostimulants are the most common treatments for ADHD, although the precise etiology and pathological mechanisms underlying ADHD are poorly understood. Animal models could help to elucidate and further the understanding of this disorder. Among the major rodent models of ADHD of the genetic and neurotoxin-exposed animal models, the spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) are more extensively studied. Nevertheless, the mechanism of ADHD is complex and the evidence of SHR model for ADHD has been conflicting. Objective. In this work, we combined behavioral, neurochemical, neuroimaging, pharmacological and molecular studies to examine SHR as an animal model of ADHD. At the same time, the results of our studies could help us to explore the potential mechanism of ADHD. Material and methods. We compared the locomotor activity, attention, inhibition, learning and memory of juvenile male SHR with those of age- and gender-matched genetic control Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) by using the open field test, Morris water maze and prepulse inhibition test. We employed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure potential morphological differences between different brain areas of SHR and WKY, and the functional MRI (fMRI) for functional differences in these brain areas. We also measured dopamine concentration and dopamine related genes expression in the different dopamine pathways by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure the dopamine concentration and by using real time PCR to assay genes expression. We examined SHR responses to D-amphetamine (D-AMP), which is psychostimulant. These included locomotor activity and inhibition ability during D-AMP treatment, expression of dopamine related genes after D-AMP treatment measured by real time PCR and c-fos protein after repeated treatment of D-AMP by the Western Blotting. Results . Hyperactivity, impulsivity and attention deficit were observed in SHR. Decreased brain volume in caudate-putamen and vermis cerebelli in SHR were demarcated using MRI. Functional MRI (fMRI) and altered c-fos expression indicated plasticity changes of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in SHR. Dopamine content was found to decrease in mesocortical and mesolimbic dopamine pathways, but increased in the striatum. Dopamine D4 receptors gene and protein expression were decreased in the PFC in SHR. We also found that the expression of the synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) gene was initially lower in the PFC but higher in the striatum in SHR. However, this disparity of SNAP-25 in the PFC vanished after repeated treatment of D-AMP between SHR and WKY. Conclusions. In the present study, we demonstrated that SHR could be established as an ADHD model by completing complex assessments of face validity, construct validity and prediction validity. We suggested that the "synaptogenesis hypotheses" might contribute to the abnormal release of dopamine and dysfunction of PFC and the striatum in SEER. In conclusion, our results have provided further new information relevant to the understanding of ADHD in human via the analysis of the SHR model. / Li, Qi. / Adviser: David Yen. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: B, page: 1375. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-125). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2009 / Background: Although ADHD does occur as a single disorder in a minority of diagnosed individuals, it is generally comorbid with other behavioural and emotional disorders. The most frequent co-occurring psychiatric disorders are Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Anxiety Disorder and Mood Disorder. The aim of the study was to establish a relationship between the core symptoms of ADHD (Inattention and Hyperactivity/Impulsiveness) and the externalising disorders, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder, and the internalising disorders anxiety and depression and to establish differences in comorbid symptoms (ODD, CD, anxiety, and depression) between children with ADHD and a non-ADHD control group as a function of gender and subtype. Method: A total of 100 Tsonga speaking primary school children (50 with ADHD symptoms and 50 non-ADHD controls) participated in the study. The ODD and CD scale of the Disruptive Behaviour Disorders rating scale was used to establish the symptoms of ODD and CD, while the Anxiety and Depression scales of the “Terry” Picture Questionnaire was used to establish the symptoms of Anxiety and Depression. Results: Findings of the study showed that the relationship between the hyperactive/impulsive component of ADHD and the externalizing disorders (ODD and CD) was moderate to strong, while there was no significant relationship between hyperactivity/impulsiveness and the internalizing disorders (anxiety and depression). The inattentive component of ADHD showed a strong relationship with ODD, but no significant relationship with CD was observed. The relationship of inattentive symptoms with the internalizing disorders (anxiety and depression) was weak to moderate. The comparison study showed that boys with the predominant hyperactive/impulsive subtype of ADHD had significantly more symptoms of CD than xii their non-ADHD counterparts, but not significantly more ODD symptoms, while girls of the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive subtype had significantly more symptoms of both ODD and CD than the non-ADHD girls. A comparison of the predominantly inattentive subtype of ADHD showed that the boys had more symptoms of ODD than their non-ADHD counterparts, while there were no significant extra symptoms for CD. The predominantly inattentive girls did not show more symptoms of both externalizing disorders than the non-ADHD controls. The ADHD-combined subtype had more symptoms of both disorders but no gender differences were observed. When the ADHD subtypes were compared with non-ADHD controls for internalizing disorders, only the predominantly inattentive subtype showed significantly more symptoms of both anxiety and depression. This was the case for both genders. Conclusion: The study showed that there is a relationship between the symptoms of ADHD (hyperactivity/impulsiveness and inattention) and the externalizing disorders, ODD and CD. Only the Inattentive component of ADHD showed a relationship with internalizing disorders (anxiety and depression). The comparison study showed that the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive and the combined subtypes displayed most symptoms of externalizing disorders, while the predominantly inattentive subtype had significantly more symptoms of internalizing disorders. Gender differences were observed in the symptoms of externalizing disorders, but not in the symptomatology of internalizing disorders.

Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka upplevelsen och betydelsen av att få en ADHD-diagnos hos unga kvinnor. Studien har haft en kvalitativ ansats och består av intervjuer med tre kvinnor i åldrarna 24 till 30 år som alla har fått sin diagnos efter tjugo års ålder. Utskrifterna från dessa intervjuer har meningskoncentrerats och har analyserats utifrån känsla av sammanhang, diagnossociologiska tankeströmningar och medikaliseringsbegreppet. De två forskningsfrågor som studien har ämnat besvara har varit dels hur de intervjuade kvinnorna har upplevt att få en ADHD-diagnos och dels vilken betydelse ADHD-diagnosen har haft för de intervjuade kvinnorna. Resultatet visar att kvinnorna i studien upplevde det som mestadels positivt att få en ADHD-diagnos och att diagnosen har ökat deras känsla av sammanhang avseende framför allt begriplighet och hanterbarhet men även avseende meningsfullhet. Att få en diagnos har enligt mina informanter inneburit att de förstår sig själva bättre och att de också har fått en större förståelse från andra. Diagnosen har också fungerat som en förklaringsmodell för ens eget beteende. Förutom att egna beteenden har omdefinierats till att förstås utifrån en medicinsk förklaringsmodell har diagnosen även inneburit att kvinnorna fått tillgång till hjälp och hjälpmedel som exempelvis receptbelagda läkemedel. Det har också underlättat utvecklingen av strategier för att klara av vardagen genom att antingen ”ADHD-säkra” eller använda diagnosen som en felsökningsmanual. Slutligen visar studien, som dess titel skvallrar om, på en alternativ bild av att ha en ADHD-diagnos än den som vanligtvis förmedlas i samhället, där kvinnorna ser på ADHD mer som en uppsättning personlighetsdrag som förvisso kan innebära vissa svårigheter i vardagen men som också för många goda saker med sig så som kreativitet, initiativrikedom och en förmåga att se möjligheter där andra ser problem. / The purpose of this study was to examine the experience and the meaning of being diagnosed with ADHD in young women. The study had a qualitative approach and consists of interviews with three women aged 24 to 30 whom all received their diagnosis after the age of 20. The transcripts from the interviews have been processed through meaning condensation and then content analysis, focusing on sense of coherence, sociology of diagnosis and medicalization. The study aims to answer two questions – how the interviewed women experienced being diagnosed with ADHD and what meaning the diagnosis had for the interviewed women. The results shows that the women in this study mainly had positive experiences of being diagnosed with ADHD and that the diagnosis increased their sense of coherence mainly in regards of comprehensibility and manageability but also regarding meaningfulness. Getting an ADHD-diagnosis has, according to the interviewed women, led to a greater understanding of themselves and also to a more understanding approach from others. The diagnosis has also been used as an explanation model for their own behavior. In addition to own behaviors being redefined to be understood in a medicinal explanation model, the diagnosis has also meant that the women has gained access to help and aids like, for instance, prescription drugs. It has also facilitated the development of strategies for managing everyday life through either “ADHD-securing” and using the diagnosis as a manual for troubleshooting.  Finally, this study shows an alternative picture of having an ADHD-diagnosis that differs from the picture that is usually conveyed in society, where the women in this study perceive ADHD more as a set of personality traits that indeed may cause difficulties in their everyday life but also brings a lot of good things with it, such as creativity, an ability to take initiatives and an ability to see possibilities where others see problems.

Attetion Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD, är den vanligaste barnpsykiatriska diagnosen.Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva hur skolsköterskan erfar skolsituationen för elevermed ADHD-diagnos. Fyra till sex procent av alla elever i skolan har denna diagnos (ADHD).Skolsköterskan har i sin dagliga kontakt med elever möjlighet att tidigt upptäcka och även tillviss del förhindra utvecklandet av komplikationer. Orsaken till ADHD består främst avgenetiska anlag men sociala faktorer finns och de påverkar hur svår utvecklingen blir.Metoden var en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med induktiv ansats beskriven av Lundman ochHällgren Graneheim. Datainsamlingen gjordes genom intervjuer med sex skolsköterskor. Urdatamaterialet framträdde temat Att förväntas vara som andra, men inte kunna med treunderteman. Resultaten kan användas till att öka förståelsen för elever med ADHD och derasskolsituation. Förhoppningsvis kan insikten om problemets svårighetsgrad öka motivationenatt förbättra situationen i skolan för alla elever och vuxna. Det finns många saker sompåverkar situationen för elever med ADHD, med rätt resurser och förutsättningar gesmöjlighet att påverka elevens utveckling i positiv riktning. / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD, is today the most common psychiatricdiagnosis among children. The purpose of this study was to describe school nurses̛experiences of the school situation of pupils with ADHD. Four to six percent of all schoolpupils have been diagnosed with this illness. Due to her daily contact with school children,the school nurse has the opportunity to assist in early detection of ADHD, and can to someextent even prevent the development of possible complications. Genetic predisposition is theprimary cause of ADHD but social factors affect the severity of its development. The methodin this study was qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach described byLundman och Hällgren Graneheim. The data collection was made through interviews with sixschool nurses. Based on the analysis, the theme; Expected to be like the others, but also notbeing able, emerged with three subthemes. The results can be used to increase theunderstanding of pupils with ADHD in their school situation. Hopefully, awareness of theproblem severity increases motivation to improve the situation in schools for all studentsand adults. There are many things that affect the situation for children with ADHD. With theright resources and conditions the opportunity to influence students' development in apositive direction occurs.

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent conditions among school children. Executive function deficits representing difficulties in maintaining an appropriate problem set for the attainment of future goals are reported to be the major deficit in ADHD populations. There is a high rate of co-morbidity of learning disabilities and ADHD, with empirical evidence indicating an association with math and reading difficulties, but there is little research on the written expression of this population. There is a body of emergent research indicating that written expression is mediated by executive function. Written expression is a complex task that is affected by motivation, working memory, cognitive processes and long term memory, factors which are reported to be compromised in ADHD populations. This study evaluated the working memory and fluid reasoning in children with (combined and predominantly inattentive types) and without ADHD. Second, it explored the relationship between working memory and fluid reasoning on written expression in children with and without ADHD. Finally, the possible link between the executive functions of working memory and fluid reasoning, with written expression of children with and without ADHD was examined. The findings of this study indicate that children with the combined type of ADHD had lower written expression and working memory scores compared to children with the inattentive type of ADHD. The results of this study also indicated an association between disinhibition and working memory deficits on written expression performance. This research will serve to contribute to an understanding of the functional impact of ADHD on academic performance. Findings from this study could potentially help with interventions for deficits in written expression among school children.