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ADHD In Childhood

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Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder has a complicated and interesting history and because of that it is important to understands this disorders implications and comorbidity to better treat and diagnose it. Research done by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that 11% of the US population between the ages of 4-17 are affected with ADHD; that’s 6.4 million children and the prevalence of diagnosis is only increasing (2016). It was generally assumed that ADHD was something children would grow out of but new studies show that approximately 4% of the adult population in the US are still suffering from ADHD or have developed ADHD (Breyer, J. L., Lee, S., Winters, K. C., August, G. J., & Realmuto, G. M. 2014). ADHD is …show more content…

2002). First step to understanding this disorder is to understand how it is diagnosed and what criteria is required. There are 18 possible symptoms for ADHD that are divided into two categories, inattentive and hyperactivity/impulsive (Barkley 1997). In order to be diagnosed with ADHD an individual must show at least 6 symptoms in one category for 6 months (Barkley 1997). Depending on what category the symptoms were in the child would also be assigned to a subtype, either: predominantly inattentive or predominantly hyperactive/impulsive; but if the individual met criteria for both inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive then the child would be diagnoses with ADHD combined (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 2013). Some of the symptoms that fall under the inattentive subtype are inability to stay focused on tasks (i.e. during lectures, conversations, …show more content…

In a study published by Hung-Pollock and Karalunas, they created an experiment that tested children with and without ADHD’s working memory (WM) to better understand how their executive functioning (EF) developed (2010). In order for an individual to use and learn an executive function, that individual must first use WM to remember and practice that function until it becomes automatic. Hung-Pollock and Karalunas used two types of test to measure reaction time (RT) and apply that data to WM. The first test was alphabet arithmetic (AA), a computer program that would present a question with a number and a letter (i.e A+1=?) (Hung-Pollock C. L., & Karalunas S. L. 2010). Children were expected to replace the letter with the number associated with its position in the alphabet (i.e. A=1, B=2, C=3) and solve. The children were told to press that enter button with would record their RT and then say their answer aloud to the research assistant who then recorded answers (Hung-Pollock C. L., & Karalunas S. L. 2010). The second test, called finger math (FM), was another computer program that presented children with the same math problems as the AA (Hung-Pollock C. L., Karalunas S. L.

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