- What Happens
to "Bad" Girls?
- Response Inhibition with Disruptive
Disorders
- Treatment of ADHD in Children with
Substance Abuse and Conduct Disorders
- Recent Research on Youth Suicide
- How
Much Do Teachers Know about ADHD?
- Proactive Aggression and Later Conduct
Problems
- Parenting and Hyperactivity
- Another Medication for ADHD
- Fathers and Preschool Behaviour Problems
 What Happens to
"Bad" Girls?
Until recently, research on adult outcomes of
antisocial behaviour in youth has been primarily focused on males. This may stem
in part from widespread beliefs that antisocial behaviour in females is rare and
only a temporary stage that they will soon "grow out of". More recent
research is providing evidence that antisocial behaviour in girls is neither rare
nor temporary. The following are findings from two recent studies on adult outcomes
of antisocial adolescent girls.
Study 1
Reviewing previous studies, it is pointed
out that:
- Conduct disorder is the second most
common diagnosis in adolescent girls.
- For girls, 7.5- 9.5% meet the criteria
for conduct disorder compared to 8.6-12.2% for boys.
- Self reports of delinquency indicate
that girls report the same patterns of antisocial behaviour as boys, with the exception
of sexual assault.
- Unlike boys, whose delinquent behaviour
in adolescence is likely to result in criminal behaviour in adulthood, delinquent
girls may manifest continued disturbed behaviour in different ways in adulthood.
It is suggested that some antisocial adolescent
girls begin their antisocial behaviour during early adolescence and continue to commit
offences with increasing severity and frequency into adulthood. Others start with
norm violation (such as coming home late and missing school) and continue into adulthood
It should be noted that although the results
of this review are provocative, there were limitations to the studies done in the
past. Some concerns about past research were that:
- Data was mostly on white females and
therefore results may not generalize to other racial groups.
- Many of the studies did not use a control
group for comparison purposes.
- Outcomes measures and definitions of
deviance were not uniform.
Despite the shortcomings of past research, it
is clear that female adolescent antisocial behaviour has important long-term individual
and societal consequences. Therefore, this area warrants further research using improved
research methods.
- Source:
- Pajer, K.A. (1998). What happens
to "bad" girls?: A review of the adult outcomes of antisocial adolescents.
American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 862-870.
How
Much Do Teachers Know about ADHD?
Barbaresi, W.J., & Olsen, R.D.
(1998). An ADHD educational intervention for elementary schoolteachers: A pilot study.
Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 19, 94-100.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
is the most common disorder among school aged children, affecting approximately 3-5%.
It is thus important that teachers working with these children are educated about
the cause and treatment of ADHD. Teachers will then be better able to manage these
children in the classroom and be better able to collaborate with physicians in the
assessment and treatment of children with ADHD. The purpose of this study was to
assess the level of teacher training, knowledge, and attitudes concerning ADHD.
To assess teacher knowledge of ADHD, 44 teachers
completed a 27-item knowledge test, both before and after receiving an educational
intervention. The intervention was an ADHD curriculum developed by the national organization,
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Disorder (CHADD). The "CHADD
Educators' Inservice" provides teachers with information on ADHD diagnosis,
treatment, and classroom management strategies. It also offers an opportunity for
teachers to become more directly involved with physicians in their efforts to educate
students with ADHD.
Results:
Although teachers scored fairly well on the
pretest of ADHD knowledge, there were several misconceptions that were of concern.
For instance, research has established that ADHD is not caused by sugar or food
additives. Poor parenting is also not the cause of ADHD (although parental behaviour
may play a significant role in the treatment, course, and prognosis of hyperactivity).
In addition, methylphenidate (Ritalin) plays an integral role in the treatment of
ADHD and is not used only as a last resort. Results of the ADHD knowledge test at
pre-intervention indicated that the teachers had the following misconceptions:
- 41% of the teachers thought that ADHD
could be caused by poor parenting
- 41% of the teachers thought that ADHD
could be caused by sugar or food additives
- 64% thought that methylphenidate should
be used only as a last resort
- Post-intervention percentages of teachers
holding these beliefs were 7%, 5%, and 34%, respectively.
The teachers in this study had gaps in knowledge
concerning ADHD that were quite similar to those reported in other studies. If
teachers become more knowledgeable concerning ADHD and are more directly involved
with physicians who treat this disorder, they may find it easier and less stressful
to educate students with ADHD.
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