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.

Aim: This study aims to investigate the genetic components of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Reading Disability (RD), and their comorbidity. Methods: Three approaches were applied to data from 2610 Australian twin families. This data was obtained by parental completion of the ‘Twin and Sibling Questionnaire'. 1) Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was applied to generate genetically independent classes that defined ADHD subtypes and RD based on related cluster symptoms. 2) Genetic modelling was used to study the particular genetic and environmental effects of each ADHD subtype and of RD, and to examine whether children identified with comorbid ADHD-RD are a genetically distinct group from those who have only ADHD without RD. 3) A family-based genetic association, including haplotype block analysis, was applied to compare the efficacy of DSM-IV diagnostic criteria and LCA in the genotyping analysis, to test the genetic overlap of ADHD candidate genes on RD phenotypes.and vice versa, and to detect some of the risk alleles of ADHD alone, RD alone, and comorbid ADHD-RD. This analysis was performed on a data set that included 190 individuals from the original sample; it tested twenty-one Single Nucleotide Polyrnorphisms (SNPs) from five ADHD candidate genes (DRD4, DATI, SNAP25, COMT, and HTR1B), and four RD candidate genes (MRS2L, KIAA0319, TTRAP, and THEM2) from the 6p22.2 region. / Results: The LCA dissected the phenotypes for ADHD and RD into nine genetically informative classes. Univariate and bivariate results indicated the presence of unique genetic components on each ADHD subtype and RD category, and also showed the existence of genetic factors for comorbid ADHD-RD. The association findings, using continuous data represented by scores,of DSM-IV-defined ADHD and RD, showed two significant associations for ADHD and RD, whereas the association findings for the categorical data, represented by LCA, were richer as they showed 15 significant single-locus with ADHD and RD latent classes. Some of these association results were between ADHD candidate SNPs with RD latent classes and ADHD-RD comorbid classes. Some RD candidate SNPs were associated with ADHD latent classes and ADHD-RD comorbid classes. Haplotype block analysis detected a presence of one significant haplotype block containing two haplotype-tagging SNPs (ht-SNPs) of the COMT gene (rs4680 and rs165599), including three risk alleles ('AA', 'GC', and 'AC') that were associated with some phenotypic RD components. Conclusion: This study found that the use of ADHD-RD latent classes is more suitable for performing genetic association studies and haplotype block analysis than is DSM-IV- defined ADHD and RD definitions. Furthermore, there is an overlapping of genetic effect, as ADHD candidate genes contributed to RD phenotypes and vice versa. Thirdly, ADHD-RD comorbidity is caused by both ADHD and RD candidate genes.

Extensive research on Theory of Mind (ToM) development in various clinical groups has shown that the ToM deficits evidenced in individuals with autism is variable and not specific to this population. With the often noted positive associations between ToM and ; a/.executive functioning, b/.social relationships, and c/.language development, a clinical group requiring investigation of the ToM development is children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), as they generally experience significant difficulties in these areas. Currently, however there is only a very limited and generally disparate body of knowledge about these children’s ToM functioning gleaned from small sample sizes with broad age ranges, typically consisting of unidentified AD/HD Subtypes and mainly utilising traditional ToM tasks. The purpose of this study was to address these issues by a/. examining Tom development in young children diagnosed with AD/HD Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type (AD/HD-HI) or AD/HD Combined Type (AD/HD-C) only; b/. utilising a larger sample size than previous research in this area, specifically around the critical age periods of first and second order ToM development; c/. examining the developmental progression of ToM development in young children with AD/HD; and d/. utilising a comprehensive range of traditional first and second order tasks and ToM related narrative tasks. Strengths and limitations of the present study are identified, the clinical implications coming from the present study’s findings are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood psychiatric disorder characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattentiveness, impulsivity and hyperactivity. Current theories of ADHD cite evidence from neuropsychological and brain imaging studies suggesting that abnormalities in the structure and function of the frontal lobes and connected brain regions are associated with impaired behavioural inhibition, constituting the primary deficit in ADHD. While most reviewers conclude that neuropsychological studies have failed to find specific deficits in various aspects of attention in ADHD, poor performance on attentional tasks, including the continuous performance task (CPT), is a common finding and previous electrophysiological studies suggest evidence of impaired attentional processing. This study aimed to investigate the cortical activity associated with attentional processes in children with and without ADHD, using steady-state probe topography (SSPT). Seventeen boys diagnosed with ADHD and seventeen age matched control boys participated. Changes in the amplitude and latency of the steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP) associated with correct responses to targets in the �X� and �AX� versions of the CPT were examined. At critical time points in both tasks, the control group demonstrated SSVEP changes suggesting increased activation and increased speed of neural processing. These effects occurred predominantly in medial frontal, right prefrontal, right parietal and occipital regions, suggesting enhanced activity in regions previously shown to be involved in attentional processes. The ADHD group demonstrated much smaller increases in activation and processing speed in frontal regions and predominantly reduced activation and slower processing in parieto-occipital regions. Group differences suggesting reduced activity in the ADHD group were observed in response to the presentation of both cues and targets, as well as in the intervals leading up to target presentation, especially in the cued CPT-AX. These results suggest that processing of task relevant stimuli as well as preparatory and motor processes may be associated with dysfunctional activation of brain networks of attention in ADHD, involving deficits in both frontal and parietal cortical regions. These regions may also be involved in the maintenance of information required for correct task performance and the results also suggest possible deficits in these processes in ADHD. The findings are consistent with others of reduced activation and cognitive deficits in ADHD involving these brain regions and networks, and with the idea that ADHD may be associated with a diminished ability to regulate levels of arousal and activation appropriate to task demands.

<p> </p><p>Flickor med AD/HD upptäcks ofta inte i tid vilket kan ge konsekvenser inom flera områden under uppväxten. Syftet med denna uppsats var att bidra till en ökad förståelse kring hur diagnosen AD/HD kan påverka livet under uppväxten för flickor. Sex vuxna kvinnor med AD/HD intervjuades för denna studies syfte. Studien grundade sig i kvalitativ metod med hjälp av fenomenologisk tolkning samt meningskoncentrering vid sammanställning och analys av intervjumaterialet. Undersökningen fokuserade på sex centrala teman; diagnosens betydelse, skola, fritid, familjen, jämnåriga relationer och självuppfattning. Resultatet förtydligade att dessa centrala teman är betydelsefulla områden för en flicka med AD/HD under uppväxten. Ett fastställande av diagnosen AD/HD spelar en central roll gällande förståelse och hjälp från omgivningen. Studien visade på att flickor med AD/HD har vissa svårigheter i relationer till lärare, jämnåriga samt familj under uppväxten. För majoriteten av respondenterna har mamman varit det viktigaste stödet under uppväxten. Det har framkommit att familj och lärare har svårt att förstå samt att hantera flickor med AD/HD. Flickor med AD/HD har olika grad av svårigheter och tillgångar i skolarbetet samt i vardagen. I studien framgick det att undervisningsformen har betydelse för en flicka med AD/HD. Självuppfattningen hos en flicka med AD/HD kan påverkas av samhällets syn på hur en flicka ska vara. I studien framgick det tydligt att flertalet av respondenterna upplevt sig som en pojkflicka under uppväxten. Studien visade även på förekomst av psykisk ohälsa hos flickor med AD/HD under uppväxten.</p>

Thesis (M.A. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Psychology. / Bibliography: leaves 68-72. Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2005. / Title from title page screen, viewed on April 13, 2007. Dissertation Committee: Steven Landau (chair), Thomas Critchfield, Corinne Zimmerman, Mark Swerdlik, Robert Lusk. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-123) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2006. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Arthur Anastopoulos; submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-84).