The Challenging Role of Theory of Mind in the Mothers of Children with Attention Deficit - Hyperactivity Disorder

Author(s):  
Azar Mohammadzadeh ◽  
Anahita Khorrami Banadaki ◽  
Atefeh Nezamolslami

Background: While theory of mind (ToM) deficit is frequently reported in children and adult with ADHD, there is no study investigating characteristics of ToM in their parents. This study aimed to investigate understanding intentionality as an important component of ToM ability in ADHD mothers and typically developing children’s mothers.   Methods: Through available sampling, (50 mothers), 23 ADHD’s mothers were compared to 27 age and IQ matched typically developing children’s mothers. All participants were assessed using the Animated Triangle Task for ToM performance and the Conners’ Continuous Performance Test (CPT) to evaluate neurocognitive performance. The Mann–Whitney and t-test were used as data analysis methods to examine differences between two groups. Results: poor performance of ADHD mothers was at ToM task. (p < 0.001) However, no significant difference was found between the two groups of mothers in CPT-II performance (p > 0.001). Performance of ToM was not significantly associated with CPT-II. Conclusions: ADHD mothers may have deficits in understanding intentionality. The findings suggest that researchers pay more attention to recognizing social cognition and social communication characteristics of the parents of ADHD children. It seems that using specific training programs for the parents of ADHD children to achieve ToM capacities can contribute to the pro motion of their children’s social development.

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
Masoomeh Mohtashemi ◽  
Zahra Eftekharsaadi

<p>This study is done to determine the effectiveness of Neurofeedback on reducing the symptoms of Hyperactivity and increasing the accuracy and caution in ADHD children. Subjects were 30 ADHD children who were selected by cluster sampling method. Research layout is pre-test, post-test experimental type. Conners parent measure questionnaire and a computer based continuous performance test are the research materials. The results of investigation on post-test average score of Hyperactivity symptoms and accuracy and caution of ADHD children in experimental and witness groups, with controlling of pre-test, has shown a significant difference.</p>


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gudrun Sartory ◽  
Arnfried Heine ◽  
Bernhard W. Müller ◽  
Angela Elvermann-Hallner

Abstract Contingent negative variation (CNV) and evoked potentials were recorded during the continuous performance test in 20 children (aged 7 to 12) with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and in 19 age-matched healthy children. A series of letters were displayed every 2.1 s and a button had to be pressed whenever the letter O was followed by an X. Children were also given neuropsychological tests and questionnaires assessing anxiety and depression. Unlike ADHD children, healthy children showed a more pronounced CNV after the cue - the letter O - than after the distractors. At Fz, CNV negativity was significantly correlated with IQ and executive function. Control children also exhibited a higher parietal N375 post S1 - likely to be associated with letter processing - and a higher N550 amplitude at Fz than ADHD children post S1 and S2; both groups showed a higher N550 amplitude whenever X followed non-O or O was followed by non-X. This component appears to be involved in decision-making processes regarding the initiation or inhibition of movement. ADHD children had a faster reaction time but made more errors of omission and commission. Results suggest that ADHD children show deficits in both stimulus processing and response execution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 795-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J. Short ◽  
Rachael Cooper Schindler ◽  
Rita Obeid ◽  
Maia M. Noeder ◽  
Laura E. Hlavaty ◽  
...  

Purpose Play is a critical aspect of children's development, and researchers have long argued that symbolic deficits in play may be diagnostic of developmental disabilities. This study examined whether deficits in play emerge as a function of developmental disabilities and whether our perceptions of play are colored by differences in language and behavioral presentations. Method Ninety-three children participated in this study (typically developing [TD]; n = 23, developmental language disorders [DLD]; n = 24, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]; n = 26, and autism spectrum disorder [ASD]; n = 20). Children were videotaped engaging in free-play. Children's symbolic play (imagination, organization, elaboration, and comfort) was scored under conditions of both audible language and no audible language to assess diagnostic group differences in play and whether audible language impacted raters' perception of play. Results Significant differences in play were evident across diagnostic groups. The presence of language did not alter play ratings for the TD group, but differences were found among the other diagnostic groups. When language was audible, children with DLD and ASD (but not ADHD) were scored poorly on play compared to their TD peers. When language was not audible, children with DLD were perceived to play better than when language was audible. Conversely, children with ADHD showed organizational deficits when language was not available to support their play. Finally, children with ASD demonstrated poor play performance regardless of whether language was audible or not. Conclusions Language affects our understanding of play skills in some young children. Parents, researchers, and clinicians must be careful not to underestimate or overestimate play based on language presentation. Differential skills in language have the potential to unduly influence our perceptions of play for children with developmental disabilities.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dubi Lufi ◽  
Shachar Pan

Abstract. Several studies have shown that Continuous Performance Tests (CPT) can diagnose Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) better than other tests. Research reporting comparisons of two or more CPT-type tests is scarce. The purpose of the study was to compare the Mathematics Continuous Performance Test (MATH-CPT) with another CPT-type test (CPT II) and a questionnaire (the Brown Scale). The comparison was carried out by looking at correlations among subscales and checking the precision of detecting ADHD. Ninety-five high school and college students participated in the study, 41 with ADHD were the research group and 54 were the control group. The participants performed the two tests and answered the questionnaire. The results showed that the MATH-CPT correctly identified 74.50% of the participants of both groups as compared to the 71.60% of the CPT II. Correlations between the two CPT-type tests were moderate; however, they were similar to correlations found in other studies comparing similar tools. The MATH-CPT, final attention formula, showed significant correlations with the Brown scales, while the CPT II, confidence index associated with ADHD assessment, showed nonsignificant correlations with the questionnaire. The study indicated that MATH-CPT can be used with a clinical population of ADHD and for research purposes.


Author(s):  
Floriana Costanzo ◽  
Elisa Fucà ◽  
Deny Menghini ◽  
Antonella Rita Circelli ◽  
Giovanni Augusto Carlesimo ◽  
...  

Event-based prospective memory (PM) was investigated in children with Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), using a novel experimental procedure to evaluate the role of working memory (WM) load, attentional focus, and reward sensitivity. The study included 24 children with ADHD and 23 typically-developing controls. The experimental paradigm comprised one baseline condition (BC), only including an ongoing task, and four PM conditions, varying for targets: 1 Target (1T), 4 Targets (4T), Unfocal (UN), and Reward (RE). Children with ADHD were slower than controls on all PM tasks and less accurate on both ongoing and PM tasks on the 4T and UN conditions. Within the ADHD group, the accuracy in the RE condition did not differ from BC. A significant relationship between ADHD-related symptoms and reduced accuracy/higher speed in PM conditions (PM and ongoing trials), but not in BC, was detected. Our data provide insight on the adverse role of WM load and attentional focus and the positive influence of reward in the PM performance of children with ADHD. Moreover, the relation between PM and ADHD symptoms paves the road for PM as a promising neuropsychological marker for ADHD diagnosis and intervention.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Sung-Chou Li ◽  
Ho-Chang Kuo ◽  
Lien-Hung Huang ◽  
Wen-Jiun Chou ◽  
Sheng-Yu Lee ◽  
...  

DNA methylation levels are associated with neurodevelopment. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), characterized by attention deficits, is a common neurodevelopmental disorder. We used methylation microarray and pyrosequencing to detect peripheral blood DNA methylation markers of ADHD. DNA methylation profiling data from the microarray assays identified potential differentially methylated CpG sites between 12 ADHD patients and 9 controls. Five candidate CpG sites (cg00446123, cg20513976, cg07922513, cg17096979, and cg02506324) in four genes (LIME1, KCNAB2, CAPN9, and SPTBN2) were further examined with pyrosequencing. The attention of patients were tested using the Conners’ Continuous Performance Test (CPT). In total, 126 ADHD patients with a mean age of 9.2 years (78.6% males) and 72 healthy control subjects with a mean age of 9.3 years (62.5% males) were recruited. When all participants were categorized by their CPT performance, the DNA methylation levels in LIME1 (cg00446123 and cg20513976) were found to be significantly higher and those in SPTBN2 (cg02506324) were significantly lower in children with worse CPT performance. Therefore, DNA methylation of two CpG sites in LIME1 and one CpG site in SPTBN2 is associated with attention deficits in children. DNA methylation biomarkers may assist in identifying attention deficits of children in clinical settings.


JMS SKIMS ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-14
Author(s):  
Abdul Rouf ◽  
Shabnum Rivees ◽  
A Wahid Khan ◽  
A G Madhosh ◽  
Zeba Zeba

Parents and teachers play a significant role in the diagnosis of ADHD in children in the clinical setting. With the same in consideration a study was conducted to compare the perception between parents and teachers on the rating scales for ADHD children. The study was conducted on a sample of parents and teachers of 100 children diagnosed as having ADHD as per ICD-10 diagnostic criteria. A newly constructed and standardized parent rating scale for parents of ADHD children and attention deficit comprehensive teacher rating scale for teachers was administered on the target sample. Results indicate that there was statistically no significant difference in the rating of perception between parents and teachers on four dimensions, viz (i) attention (ii) hyperactivity (iii) social skills (iv) oppositional behaviour of ADHD children. To verify these findings, positive correlation was found between parents and teachers perception on all the four dimensions.J Med Sci.2010;13(1);11-14


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document