The effect of methylphenidate in a sample of hyperactive and hyperactive-aggressive elementary-school age boys (N = 26) on social information processing patterns and on level of aggression in response to provocation was investigated. Social information processing measures included: assessment of inferences about intent of a peer whose actions hypothetically produced a negative outcome for the subject; recall of interviews consisting of hostile, prosocial, and neutral statements; and presentation of stories in which the subject imagined experiencing a negative outcome due a peer's actions, and could listen to clues before deciding peer guilt or innocence. In the provocation task, subjects believed they were competing in a reaction game with an opponent. Before each trial, subjects determined a level of aversive white noise the bogus opponent would hear if the opponent should lose that trial. When subjects lost a trial, they heard a burst of white noise having an intensity allegedly determined by the opponent. Low, medium, and high levels of provocation were presented. For two of the thirteen social information processing variables, significant findings were obtained: more positive statements were recalled in the drug than in the placebo condition; and on one recall task more statements were recalled in the drug condition. Methylphenidate differentially effected hyperactive and hyperactive-aggressive boys on the provocation task. A significant three-way interaction of Aggression level (low or high) by Medication (drug or placebo) by Level of Provocation (low, medium, or high) indicated that medicated hyperactive-aggressive boys responded with lower levels of aggression in response to all levels of provocation than did medicated hyperactive boys. The mean response of the hyperactives in the high level of provocation was significantly higher in the drug / condition than in the placebo condition, a result not found for the hyperactive-aggressives. There appears to be a beneficial medication effect for the hyperactive-aggressive boys, and perhaps a detrimental effect for the hyperactive boys. The importance of subgrouping hyperactive children by aggression level for accurate evaluation of drug effects was supported. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-03, Section: B, page: 0883. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76095 |
| Contributors | MURPHY, DEBRA ANN., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 140 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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