RESUMEN
We examined developmental trajectories of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, standardized achievement, and school performance for adolescents with and without ADHD who did and did not enroll in postsecondary education (PSE; N = 749; 79% boys; 63% White, 17% non-Hispanic Black, 10% Hispanic, and 10% other ethnicities). In a multisite study (recruitment based in New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, California, and Quebec), participants were originally enrolled between 1994 and 1998 at ages 7 to 9.9 and followed up through 2012 (Mage = 25 at final follow-up). Adolescents who eventually enrolled in PSE had less severe symptoms, but differences were modest and trajectories were similar over time. For all adolescents, standardized achievement trajectories declined up to two thirds of a standard deviation from ages 9 to 17. By the end of high school, the average GPA of adolescents with ADHD was three quarters of a point higher for those who eventually enrolled in PSE compared to those who did not. Overall, school performance mattered more than academic achievement for understanding eventual enrollment of adolescents with ADHD.
Asunto(s)
Éxito Académico , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad , Logro , Adolescente , Adulto , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/complicaciones , Niño , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , North Carolina , Instituciones AcadémicasRESUMEN
Significant ethnic differences have been consistently documented on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) teacher rating scales. Whether these ethnic differences result from a teacher rating bias or reflect actual classroom behavior patterns is unknown. Ethnic differences between Caucasian and African American (AA) elementary schoolchildren on teacher ratings and codings of observed classroom behavior were examined with latent variables. In structural equation models, correlations between teacher ratings and observed classroom behavior suggested nonbiased teacher ratings of AA schoolchildren with diagnosed ADHD. Ethnic differences were documented for both teacher ratings of ADHD and classroom behavior. Differences in classroom behavior were attenuated when the behavior of an average child in the classroom was taken into account. Multiple explanations for this pattern of results are discussed.
Asunto(s)
Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/etnología , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/epidemiología , Población Negra/estadística & datos numéricos , Conducta Infantil , Docentes , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Población Blanca/estadística & datos numéricos , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/diagnóstico , Población Negra/psicología , Niño , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Tamizaje Masivo/métodos , Variaciones Dependientes del Observador , Población Blanca/psicologíaRESUMEN
As neuropsychological mechanisms for attention have been hypothesized to be located in the right hemisphere of the brain, several investigators have begun to conceptualize attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related attentional deficits as involving right-hemispheric abnormalities. The authors evaluated and compared adult patients diagnosed with ADHD with a non-ADHD group of patients using a chronometric visual-spatial attention task that is sensitive to hemispheric differences in efficiency of information processing. Reaction times across different cuing conditions, cue-target delays, and visual fields were assessed. When participants' attention was misdirected with cues in the right visual field and attention had to be switched to a target on the left visual field, there was a longer delay among ADHD adults than non-ADHD adults, specifically when the interval between the cue and target was 800 ms as compared with 100 ms. This specific pattern of dysfunction was interpreted as a difficulty with maintaining attention possibly associated with anterior attention mechanisms in the right hemisphere.