Description:
This study evaluated the effects of reward, punishment, and reward + punishment on the impulsive responses of ADHD children. The impulsive responses of ADHD and normal control boys (30 per group) were compared during performance of a go/no-go task, administered under reward-only, punishment-only, and reward + punishment conditions. When differences in aggression, anxiety, and IQ between these groups were controlled for, results indicated that the impulsivity levels of the ADHD group were higher than the control group in all three reinforcement conditions. Also, the ADHD group was more impulsive in the reward + punishment condition, compared to the reward-only and punishment-only conditions, and there was no difference between the reward-only and punishment-only conditions. The control groups showed no difference across the three reinforcement conditions. These findings raise the possibility that the poor response inhibition of ADHD children may be related to both a generalized inhibitory deficit and a response modulation deficit.
Description:
OBJECTIVE: This study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), latent class analysis (LCA), and factor mixture model (FMM) to ascertain the best model for ADHD symptoms, as presented in the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD-Symptoms and Normal Behavior Scale (SWAN). METHOD: Mother ratings of the ADHD symptoms of 418 clinic-referred children and adolescents were obtained. RESULTS: The findings provided most support for an FMM with two classes (less severe inattention [IA] and hyperactivity/impulsivity [HI] symptoms and more severe IA/HI symptoms) and two factors (IA and HI) model. The more severe class had more individuals with the ADHD diagnosis, especially the combined type. CONCLUSION: The findings are discussed in relation to dimensional and categorical views of ADHD.
Description:
Objective: This study examined the bifactor models of ADHD in three groups: adolescents from the general community (n = 214), adults from the general community (n = 366), and a clinic sample (n = 245). Method: For the adolescent sample, mothers provided ratings of the ADHD symptoms, and their teachers provided ratings for Emotional Symptoms, Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity, Peer Problems, and Prosocial Behavior. For the adult sample, all adults completed self-ratings of the ADHD symptoms and measures for depression, anxiety, and stress. For the clinic-referred sample, mothers provided ratings of the ADHD symptoms, and they were diagnosed for ADHD, Conduct Disorder/Oppositional Defiant Disorder, anxiety disorders, and depression disorders. Results: The findings for all samples supported the bifactor model, and there were differences in the way the general and specific factors correlated with the external variables. Conclusion: The findings support the validity of the bifactor model. (J. of Att. Dis. 2013; XX(X) 1-XX).
Description:
OBJECTIVE: Generalized partial credit model, which is based on item response theory (IRT), was used to test differential item functioning (DIF) for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.), inattention (IA), and hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI) symptoms across boys and girls. METHOD: To accomplish this, parents completed an ADHD rating scale for 403 boys and 380 girls, between 6 and 11 years of age. RESULTS: The findings indicated no DIF for all the slope parameters for both the IA and HI symptoms. For location parameters, there was no DIF for all the IA symptoms and for seven of the nine HI symptoms. However, the effect sizes for the DIF symptoms were small. Thus, there was good support for gender equivalency for the ADHD symptoms. CONCLUSION: These findings extend existing data on gender equivalency of ADHD symptoms, obtained using other methodologies for testing measurement equivalency.
Description:
OBJECTIVE: ADHD and Hyperkinetic Disorder (HKD) have the same 18 symptoms, covering inattention (IA), hyperactivity (HYP), and impulsivity (IMP). This study was aimed at providing descriptive scores for the different symptom groups in these disorders and how these scores varied by age and gender, the percentages of individuals meeting the symptom thresholds for the different ADHD types and HKD, the factor structure, and gender invariance of these symptoms in adults. METHOD: To accomplish this, 852 adults provided self-ratings for a scale comprising the 18 ADHD/HKD symptoms. RESULTS: The findings showed that age and gender had minimal effects on the ADHD symptoms. Also, in terms of symptom counts, 2% had HKD and 6.3% had ADHD (inattentive = 1.6%, hyperactive-impulsive = 2.7%, and combined type = 2.0%). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided most support for the three-factor HKD model, involving separate factors for the IA, HYP, and IMP symptoms. This model showed full measurement invariance across gender. CONCLUSION: The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.
Description:
Objective: This study used the mean and covariance structures analysis approach to examine the equality or invariance of ratings of the 18 ADHD symptoms. Method: 783 Australian and 928 Malaysian parents provided ratings for an ADHD rating scale. Invariance was tested across these groups (Comparison 1), and North European Australian (n = 623) and Malay Malaysian (n = 571, Comparison 2) groups. Results: Results indicate support for form and item factor loading invariance; more than half the total number of symptoms showed item intercept invariance, and 14 symptoms showed invariance for error variances. There was invariance for both the factor variances and the covariance, and the latent mean scores for hyperactivity/impulsivity. For inattention latent scores, the Malaysian (Comparison 1) and Malay Malaysian (Comparison 2) groups had higher scores. Conclusion: These results indicate fairly good support for invariance for parent ratings of the ADHD symptoms across the groups compared. (J. of Att. Diss. 2009; 12(5) 422-433)