Digital Commons Network^™

Adhd And Brain Anatomy: What Do Academic Textbooks Used In The Netherlands Tell Students?, Sanne Te Meerman, Laura Batstra, Justin E. Freedman, Rink Hoekstra, Hans Grietens

College of Education Departmental Research

Studies of brain size of children classified with ADHD appear to reveal smaller brains when compared to ‘normal’ children. Yet, what does this mean? Even with the use of rigorously screened case and control groups, these studies show only small, average group differences between children with and without an ADHD classification. However, academic textbooks used in the Netherlands often portray individual children with an ADHD classification as having a different, malfunctioning brain that necessitates medical intervention. This conceptualisation of ADHD might serve professional interests, but not necessarily the interests of children.

Development Of Prefrontal Structure And Connectivity In Typical Children And Children With Adhd: Association With Language And Executive Function, Dea Garic

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The structure and connectivity of the prefrontal cortex has been extensively studied for its contribution to language and executive function (EF) development, but many questions still remain whether its microstructural tissue properties can reliably predict behavioral outcomes in very young typically and atypically developing populations. In particular, the bilateral frontal aslant tract (FAT) has garnered increasing interest with respect to its potential association with both language and EF, but has yet to be examined in childhood attention disorders, such Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). At the same time, with advances in diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), new diffusion models offer more …

Examining Maternal Emotion Regulation In Children With And Without Adhd: A Multimodal Approach, Alexis Garcia

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: Our study utilized a multimodal approach to explore profiles of emotion regulation (ER) in mothers of young children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We also sought to understand how parent factors (i.e., skills, stress, ADHD symptoms) as well as child factors were associated with membership to these profiles. Methods: The final sample consisted of 182 parent-child dyads. Sixty-six children were in the typically developing group (Mean age = 5.47, SD = .90, 74.2% males), and there were 116 children in the ADHD group (Mean child age = 5.41, SD = .75, 80.2% males). Dyads completed a stress-inducing task …

The Impact Of Emotion Regulation On Adhd And Depressive Symptoms In Emerging Adults, Hannah Meidahl

Honors College

The present thesis describes a study examining the process of emotion regulation (ER) and its connections to symptoms of two forms of psychopathology, attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression, both separately and comorbidly. ER can be characterized as the processes and components that make up a person’s ability to express, experience, and control his/her emotions. It is theorized to be an important component of a variety of psychological disorders, including ADHD and depression. ER has been found to play a vital role in the development of both of these disorders and there has been speculation that ER may explain some of …

Mind Wandering As A Mechanism Of Attentional Dysfunction Among Children With Adhd, Brittany Merrill

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study aims to experimentally investigate the occurrence of mind wandering (MW) among children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Participants included 59 children with ADHD and 55 typically developing children. Participants completed a sustained attention task that included non-target photos of people to which children were told to respond and target photos of animals—e.g., birds, bears, cows—that children were instructed to withhold response to. Non-target photos included photos of children doing activities such as sports and birthday parties, a portion of which were the participant’s own photos (self-referential [SR] photos) in order to experimentally increase SR internal distraction or …

Family Functioning In Latinx Families Of Children With Adhd: The Role Of Parental Gender And Acculturation, Anne Malkoff, Margaret Grace, Theresa Lauer Kapke, Alyson C. Gerdes

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Objectives:

It has been well-established that parents of children with ADHD report significantly higher levels of parenting stress and home chaos, and lower levels of parental efficacy than parents of children without ADHD. Unfortunately, most of the extant ADHD literature has focused on European American children and families, resulting in a paucity of research focusing on ethnic minority families of children with ADHD. The current study aimed to expand what is known about Latinx parents of children with ADHD by exploring contextual and cultural factors, such as parental gender and acculturation, which may account for variations in parenting experiences within …

College Student Perceptions Of Adhd: Links Between Prior Knowledge And Stigma, Caterina Langlois

Senior Honors Theses

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by persistent inattention, which might or might not accompany hyperactivity and impulsivity, that noticeably interferes with functioning and development in at least two settings. It is a commonly diagnosed childhood mental health disorder. Public knowledge and attitudes towards ADHD are an important consideration for those who are going to potentially be working with that population. Research has shown older children and parents may attribute ADHD behavior to poor social skills or immaturity. Teachers often report feeling unprepared to have a student with ADHD and would like more training. Some research has shown the …

Preliminary Psychometrics For The Executive Function Challenge Task: A Novel, “Hot” Flexibility, And Planning Task For Youth, Lauren Kenworthy, Andrew Freeman, Allison Ratto, Katerina Dudley, Kelly K. Powell, Cara E. Pugliese, John F. Strang, Alyssa Verbalis, Laura G. Anthony

Psychology Faculty Research

Objective: Executive functions (EF) drive health and educational outcomes and therefore are increasingly common treatment targets. Most treatment trials rely on questionnaires to capture meaningful change because ecologically valid, pediatric performance-based EF tasks are lacking. The Executive Function Challenge Task (EFCT) is a standardized, treatment-sensitive, objective measure which assesses flexibility and planning in the context of provocative social interactions, making it a “hot” EF task. Method: We investigate the structure, reliability, and validity of the EFCT in youth with autism (Autism Spectrum Disorder; n = 129), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with flexibility problems (n = 93), and typically developing …