Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Flashcards on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD

A disorder describing children who display persistent age-inappropriate symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are sufficient to cause impairment in major life activities.

Inattention

An inability to sustain attention, stick to tasks or play activities, remember and follow through on instructions or rules, and resist distractions including difficulties in planning and organization and in timeliness and problems in staying alert.

Attentional capacity

The amount of information we can remember and attend to for a short time.

Selective attention

The ability to concentrate on relevant stimuli and ignore task-irrelevant stimuli in the environment; deficits are indicated by distractibility.

Sustained attention(Vigilance)

The ability to maintain a persistent focus over time on unchallenging, uninteresting tasks or activities or when fatigued. A primary attention deficit in ADHD seems to be sustained attention.

Alerting

An initial reaction to a stimulus that involves the ability to prepare for what is about to happen; it helps the child achieve and maintain an optimally alert attentional state.

Hyperactivity-impulsivity

Involves the undercontrol of motor behavior, poor sustained inhibition of behavior, the inability to delay a response or defer gratification, or an inability to inhibit dominant responses in relation to ongoing situational demands. Best viewed as a single dimension, suggests a deficit in regulating behavior.

Hyperactivity

Excessively energetic, intense, inappropriate, and not goal-directed activity that accomplishes very little.

Impulsivity

An inability to bridle immediate reactions or think before acting. Taking apart things without thought, blurting out inappropriate comments, difficulty waiting/taking turns, interrupting conversations, trouble resisting temptations and delaying gratification.

Cognitive impulsivity

Reflected in disorganization, hurried thinking, and the need for supervision.

Behavioral impulsivity

Includes impulsively calling out in class or acting without considering the consequences. Children are insensitive to the negative consequences of their behavior.

Emotional impulsivity/dysregulation

Demonstrated by impatience, low frustration tolerance, hot temper, quickness to anger, and irritability (Barkley, 2015c). Term generally refers to how quickly and likely an individual will react with negative emotions in response to negative events as compared with others of the same age or developmental level

ADHD-PI

Predominantly inattentive presentation: describes children who meet symptom criteria for inattention but not hyperactivity—impulsivity. They may have a learning disability, find it hard to remember things, and display low academic achievement.

ADHD-HI

Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive presentation: describes children who meet symptom criteria for hyperactivity-impulsivity but not inattention. It is the rarest presentation and includes primarily preschoolers.

ADHD-C

Combined presentation: describes children who meet symptom criteria for both inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. They are the ones most often referred for treatment.

Executive Functions (EFs)

Cognitive processes in the brain that activate, integrate, and manage other brain functions. They underlie the child’s capacity for self-regulation functions such as self-awareness, planning, self-monitoring, and self-evaluation

Positive bias

An exaggeration of one’s competence is referred to as a positive bias or positive illusory bias.

Pragmatics

Difficulty in understanding others’ speech and in using appropriate language in everyday situations, along with impaired verbal working memory and discourse constitute primary difficulties.

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)

A co-occurring disorder where children overreact by lashing out at adults and other kids. They can be stubborn, short-tempered, argumentative, and defiant.

Conduct disorder (CD)

A co-occurring disorder that is more severe than ODD, where kids violate societal rules and are at high risk for getting into trouble at school or with the police.

Stimulant medications

Most studied, most effective, and most commonly used treatment for the management of symptoms of ADHD and its associated impairments. alters activity in the frontostriatal region of the brain by affecting neurotransmitters

Parent management training (PMT)

Focuses on teaching both effective parenting practices and strategies for coping with the challenges of parenting a child with ADHD

Summer Treatment Program (STP)

Model that has increased in use and is becoming widely available, with two major advantages: maximizes opportunities to build effective peer relations in normal settings maximizes opportunities to build effective peer relations in normal settings, and provides continuity to academic work to ensure that gains made during the school year are not lost.