Evidence for an Independent Syndrome of Hyperactivity

Abstract

It has recently been suggested that hyperactivity and an aggressive conduct disorder cannot exist independently in children. The results of a factor analysis of the Conners Teacher Rating Scales of over 9000 children provided preliminary evidence to the contrary; a hyperactivity factor emerged as explaining the greatest proportion of the variance. Because of the large size of our data-set, it was deemed necessary to investigate the heuristic value of this finding. Using norms calculated on composite factor scores, a contingency analysis was performed to determine the proportions of children who were above a two-standard deviation criterion of deviance on all factors and combinations of factors. The use of different degrees of statistical control produced prevalence estimates comparable to those reported in the literature. These findings raise the possibility that studies reporting different prevalences of hyperactivity may, in fact, be exercising different degrees of conservatism in classification. Also, when the extent of overlap along each of our factor dimensions was examined, a group of children who appeared to be hyperactive but not conduct-disordered emerged. These findings provide evidence for an independent syndrome of hyperactivity in a sample of Canadian children.

A nationwide study of developmental and gender prevalence for psychopathology in childhood and adolescence

“…It is generally inadvisable to key scales to existing clinical reference groups (Cattell & Kline, 1977;Kline, 1988) because the requisite criterion validity is usually unestablished. Alternatively, cut scores are commonly applied to syndromes (Quay & Peterson, 1983;Trites & Laprade, 1983), although the choice of cut score can be somewhat arbitrary and may depend upon the desired purpose. Several T-score cutting values were applied and evaluated in preliminary analyses: 60 (85th percentile), 63 (90th percentile), 66 (95th percentile), and 70 (97th percentile).…”

Specific language impairment with or without hyperactivity: neuropsychological evidence for frontostriatal dysfunction

“…Analysis of the CPRS has revealed five factors: conduct problem, learning problem, psychosomatic, impulsive-hyperactivity, and anxiety (Goyette et al 1978). High scores on the impulsivehyperactive factor and the Abbreviated Conners Parent and Teacher Questionnaire (ACPTQ; Conners 1973) are strongly associated with clinical diagnoses of ADHD (Loney and Milich 1982, Trites and Laprade 1983, Shue and Douglas 1992 and thus selection for the present study was made on these factor scores. Children meeting the criteria were defined as hyperactive but were not specifically diagnosed as having ADHD and this terminology is maintained from here on.…”

“…Clinically, the symptoms associated with ADHD are inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity (American Psychiatric Association 1994). The prevalence is estimated at 3 to 11% depending on the population studied and the measures used (Trites and Laprade 1983, Taylor et al 1991, American Psychiatric Association 1994. The lower estimate represents more severe impairments and is associated with a high risk for conduct disorder, learning difficulties, and poor social adjustment in later childhood and adolescence (Sandberg 1995).…”

Training Parents to Manage Difficult Children: A Comparison of Methods

“…in the United States (Werry, Sprague and Cohen, 1975;Trites and Laprade, 1983) and in England (Taylor and Sandberg, 1984).…”

“…This area of overlap is not yet commonly accepted by researchers or practitioners, and the debate still continues in the literature between those who argue that the two syndromes are very different (Trites and Laprade, 1983), and those who emphasise the commonalities -arisi,i !rom !actor aDayt.tc studies (Quay, 1980).…”