This dissertation consists of three essays examining the determinants of child developmental outcomes using the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). The first essay estimates the relationship between birth weight and cognitive and behavioral outcomes for children aged 0 to 13. Using family fixed effects models to control for household heterogeneity, I find that every ounce counts; additional birth weight for infants born weighing less than 2,500 grams (low birth weight infants) is related to better outcomes for measures of math ability, pro-social behavior and property offense. Additional birth weight for those born weighing 2,500 grams or more is related to higher scores of motor and social development and verbal competence for young children. The second essay, using a sample of Canadian boys and girls aged 10 to 15 in dual-earner families, finds that parental work schedules play an important role in adolescents’ engagement in risky behaviour, especially for boys. Non-standard parental work schedules (i.e. work during evenings, nights, weekends and rotating shifts) are positively related to fighting, drinking and trying drugs among boys and fighting among girls. In the third essay, I investigate relationships between symptoms of hyperactivity-inattention and being read to for a sample of children aged 2 to 4. The main finding, based on family fixed effects estimates, is that children who have higher hyperactivity-inattention are read to less. However, results from interactions suggest that this relationship is only present when the person most knowledgeable of the child (usually the biological mother) has less than a post-secondary degree or diploma.

Dissertation focus on problems connected with ADHD and hyperkinetic disorder. First part describes ADHD, it?s symptoms, utterances in different parts of children?s evolution, diagnosis and treatment. Main part focuses on foreknowledge, right usage of term ADHD and hyperactivity of different groups of people. As next, it focuses on finding how is the situation with recognizing of ADHD and diagnosis and consecutive work with these children.

This thesis focuses on specific work of primary school teachers that is related to children with the symptoms of ADHD. The theoretical part describes primary school system, young school age children from the perspective of development psychology, further it deals with ADHD in terms of terminology, occurrence, origins of this disorder and description of symptoms ADHD. The practical part of this thesis contains interviews with teachers which encountered children with ADHD during their working experience.It analyses ways of pedagogic work with this disorder in primary schools.

This graduation thesis deals with problems of motivation in children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). The theoretical part contains the definition of ADHD, definition, typical symptoms, factors contributing to the emergence of sowing disorder (malfunction) and problems of children with ADHD. The next section describes the motivation, resources and ways to motivate students. The practical part is devoted to research, the technique used was a questionnaire and interview. The research group consisted twenty-five ADHD children from the second degree of primary schools. The research question was set up: Do motivation in children with ADHD from children without the disorder differ any way? The aim was to determine the level of motivation of students with ADHD on school work. This mentioned graduation work will be used to familiarize the public with ADHD problems, this work could serve as an outline of the targeted educational development of motivation of students with ADHD.