Lecture 4- ADHD Flashcards
What are the three subtypes of ADHD?
- Predominantly Inattentive
- Predominantly Hyperactive/Impulsive
- Combined
What are some Behavioural symptoms of hyperactivity?
- Squirms and fidgets
- Can’t stay seated
- Runs/climbs excessively
- Can’t play/work quietly
- On the go/“Driven by a motor”
- Talks excessively
What are some Behavioural symptoms of impulsivity?
- Blurts out answers
- Can’t wait turn
- Intrudes/interrupts others
What are some inattentive symptoms of ADHD?
- Careless
- Doesn’t listen (not out of defiance just because they zone out)
- No follow through
- Forgetful in daily activities
- Can’t organize
- Avoids/dislikes tasks requiring sustained mental effort
- Loses important items
- Difficulty sustaining attention in activity
- Easily distractible
Is it likely that an individual with a specific subtype of ADHD exhibits symptoms from only that category?
No, it is likely that the individual will exhibit some inattentive symptoms and some hyperactive symptoms they are just sit more dominantly in one category as opposed to the other
What are the requirements for a clinical diagnosis of ADHD?
- Present before 12years of age
- Occur across two or more settings
- Maladaptive/interfere and inconsistent with developmental level (social, academic, occupational)
- Not better explained by another disorder
Why is it important in diagnosing ADHD that individuals have symptoms in two or more settings?
It’s not something in the environment that is causing ADHD it are the characteristics of the individual therefore it is vital that they are getting impaired in a range of situations/ across all areas in their life
Why is it that ADHD symptoms need to be present before age 12 in order to reach an official diagnosis? Why is this?
- If its a neurodevelopmental disorder than symptoms should theoretically arise early in life
- It used to be in the requirements they present before 7 and they usually do however, sometimes because there is a certain level of inattentiveness developmentally normal in young children the age got raised to better predict this subtype
How much of a biological/ genetic basis does ADHD have?
-Highly Heritable (runs in families, passed down through male line 80% of the time)
- Brain structure and functioning (children’s brains with ADHD develop at a slower rate, there is also differences in the levels of neurotransmitters)
• Begins in childhood
• Developmental in Nature
What types of studies are used to show that ADHD is not as environmentally based as people used to think?
- Identical twins vs fraternal twins. Identical twins more likely to both have ADHD than fraternal.
- Adoptive parent versus biological parent. If biological parent has ADHD than kid more likely to have it also as opposed to modelling the adoptive parent.
What areas does ADHD cause issues in?
- Behaviour
- Cognitive functioning
- Social functioning
Do people with ADHD have a hard time with emotional regulation?
Yes
How does ADHD look across the life span?
- Symptom profiles often vary across the lifespan of a person
- People can also change between subtypes
- Children tend to have more of the impulsive/ hyperactive symptoms
- While adults tend to have more of the inattentive symptoms. Align with the natural process of slowly down/ having less energy as we age.
Can people lose ADHD as they age?W
- In short no it’s a life long disorder
- However, some people while they still have tendencies their symptoms may get less severe with time
- Or it may be that their still symptomatic but they have learnt copying strategies which mean there is no longer much impairment in their life from the disorder
What is often found when people with ADHD leave school?
- School is a very bad place for people with ADHD
- Therefore, once individual leave school they often feel a lot better about their life’s. They can choose to do into careers that are well suited to people with ADHD or where there tendencies are even celebrated! i.e. hyperactive ADHD type often go into adventure tourism