Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common
neuropsychiatric disorders in childhood among school-aged children. It is characterized
by behavior disinhibition, overactivity and/or difficulty in sustaining attention.
Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy are reported ways of treating ADHD. Around 35%
of individuals diagnosed with ADHD also met the criteria for anxiety disorders that
commonly coexist with ADHD. If not treated up to 70% of children with ADHD
continue to meet the diagnostic criteria into adolescence. Psychostimulants
(Methylphenidate) are the first line of treatment in Turkey. The first aim of this present
study was to introduce Spence Children& / #8217 / s Anxiety Scale Parent version (SCAS-P) by
conducting Turkish translation, factor structure, and reliability-validity studies of the
scale. Results of the principle component analysis extracted five factors for the Turkish
version of SCAS-P. Inter-correlations among the factors (r=0.28 & / #8211 / 0.45) were found to be
satisfactory indicating for convergent validity. Criterion validity of the scale was found
to be significant as well. Analysis indicated that the top 27th percentile of the sample was
significantly differenciated from the bottom 27th percentile of the sample (t(74)=9.63,
p< / .05). Results revealed Cronbach alpha of .88, and the split half reliability of .79 for
the total scale score. Internal consistency of the subscales of the SCAS-P ranged from
0.56 to 0.78. The second aim of this study was to examine the effects of
Methylphenidate (MPH) on cognitive abilities, hyperactivity and anxiety level of
children with ADHD since MPH is known to be a first line of treatment for Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Thirty-six elementary school children, from
age seven to twelve were gathered from the local Hospital for the Social Security Office
Child Psychiatry Clinic in Ankara via using purposive sampling. Seventeen children
who met the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for ADHD were assigned to the drug group,
and nineteen children without ADHD were assigned to the comparison group. Bender
Gestalt Visual Motor Perception Test, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised
subscales, and Vigilance Task developed by the researcher were administered to
participant children, for measuring cognitive abilities. Hacettepe ADHD Scale and
SCAS-P were administered to parents of the participants for measuring hyperactivity
level and child anxiety. Measurements were repeated after a 12-week follow up both for
the drug group (N=17) and the comparison group (N=19). In the 12-week period, drug
group received MPH treatment, and the comparison group received no interventions
regarding ADHD. 2 (Drug group vs. Comparison group) x 2 (Pretest vs. Posttest) mixed
ANOVA with repeated measures on the last factor was conducted for the results of each
measurement scale separately. As expected, MPH treatment revealed improvement in
cognitive abilities and hyperactivity level of children with ADHD. All participants were
found to have high anxiety scores when first referred to the hospital, and were found to
have lower scores of anxiety on posttest. The findings were discussed on the basis of
literature and limitations of the present study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/2/12606401/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 July 2005 |
| Creators | Orbay, Ozge |
| Contributors | Ayvasik, Belgin |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for METU campus |
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