Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Early Neural And Environmental Predictors Of Later Emotion Dysregulation In Children With And Without Adhd Symptoms, Shannon Gair

Masters Theses

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood neurodevelopmental disorders and is characterized by excessive inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity. There is evidence that many children with ADHD experience emotion dysregulation, but little is known about the mechanisms by which children with ADHD develop difficulties with emotion dysregulation. The goal of the present study is to identify early neural and environmental predictors of emotion dysregulation and determine whether these factors interact in contributing to later emotion dysregulation. In this study, children (aged 4-7) with ADHD symptoms and typically developing children participated. Measures of emotion socialization and neural …

Women & Adhd Functional Impairments: Beyond The Obvious, Noelle Marita Lynn

Masters Theses

Women with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are an understudied and underserved population. Research on women with ADHD has shown that they are significantly impaired by ADHD and its functional impairments. It also shows that women often internalize their symptoms and impairments. However, no research was found that explores what this internalization does to the women. The researcher chose to begin to address this gap in the literature through this qualitative phenomenological study. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of functional impairments caused by ADHD on the internal lived experiences of women.

The researcher conducted fourteen interviews …

Racial Differences In Perceptions Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Behavior, Sungha Kang

Masters Theses

Previous research has suggested there may be racial differences in how adults perceive and rate children’s ADHD behavior (i.e., inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity). The current study examined these differences between African-American/Black (AA/B) parents and European-American/White (EA/W) parents and teachers. Participants watched video clips of children in classrooms and rated their ADHD behaviors and their likelihood of having ADHD. Results showed that EA/W parents and teachers rated African-American boys’ ADHD behaviors and their likelihood of having ADHD higher than AA/B parents. Mechanisms by which these differences exist were explored, including beliefs about stigma related to ADHD, values in movement and expressiveness, experiences …

Validity Of Adhd Symptoms In Toddlers, Hallie Brown

Masters Theses

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common child neurodevelopmental disorders. The disorder is typically diagnosed in elementary school, but there is growing evidence for the validity of ADHD in preschoolers, and symptoms likely emerge even earlier than preschool years. Research suggests that ADHD symptoms can be evident in toddlers beyond developmentally appropriate behavior, and symptoms in toddlers are predictive of later impairment. However, few studies have examined the validity of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) ADHD symptoms in this younger population. The present study examined the 18 DSM ADHD symptoms in a community sample …

Examining The Effects Of Frustration On Working Memory Capacity In An Emerging Adult Sample, Jonathan Parks Fillauer

Masters Theses

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with numerous pejorative outcomes in adults such as low frustration tolerance and deficits in central executive functioning. The present study aims to examine (1) the effect of induced frustration on working memory capacity (WMC) and (2) the unique contribution of ADHD symptoms and other commonly comorbid disorders (i.e., anxiety/depression and alcohol use) to frustration. Participants (N=66) were randomly assigned to either the control group (n=32) or the experimental group (n=34). The Frustration Induction Procedure (FIP) was administered to participants in the experimental group and a neutral, non-frustrating task was administered to a control group. A …

Central Executive Functioning And Electrodermal Levels In Adults With And Without Clinically Significant Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Symptoms, Megan Carl

Masters Theses

Adults diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) demonstrate impaired performance on central executive (CE) functioning tasks (Alderson, Hudec, Patros, & Kasper, 2013a; Boonstra, Oosterlaan, Sergeant, & Buitelaar, 2005; Nigg et al., 2005) and underarousal of the sympathetic nervous system as measured by the electrodermal levels (EDLs) during resting state paradigms (Hermens et al., 2004). CE functioning and arousal are linked in three theoretical models of ADHD. No study to date has examined the degree to which EDLs (arousal) are related to ADHD-related cognitive impairments. This study examined (1) performance associated with central executive functioning and (2) EDLs while increasing CE processing …