The hyperactive child at adolescence: Cognitive, emotional, and social functioning

Abstract

In view of the paucity of detailed follow-up studies on hyperactive children, the performance of 15 adolescents diagnosed hyperactive 5 years previously was compared to that of a control group of equivalent age, sex, intelligence, and social class. Eleven cognitive tests measuring sustained attention, visual-motor and motor skills, abstraction, and reading ability, as well as three self-assessment tests examining self-esteem, activity level, social functioning, academic status, and career aspirations were administered. The hyperactives performed significantly worse than the controls on the sustained attention, visual-motor, and motor tasks, and on two of the four reading tests. They also gave themselves significantly lower ratings on some of the self-esteem and sociability items. It would appear that the hyperactives at adolescence still have attentional and stimulus-processing difficulties, which affect not only their academic performance but also their social functioning.

Distractibility in Hyperactive and Conduct‐Disordered Children

“…Morgenstern (1972,1973), and Schachar and Logan (1990) reported results similar to those of the present study, namely that hyperactive children experienced little difficulty with this paradigm. These findings support the view that a less demanding task, such as a simple reaction time test, may not be adequate to reliably elicit the cognitive deficit of hyperactive children (Hoy, Weiss, Minde & Cohen, 1978;Hynd et al, 1989).…”

ADHD and Emotion Dysregulation Among Children and Adolescents

“…Consistent with our examples, youth with ADHD have been described in the literature as prone to excessive displays of both negative and positive emotions. These characterizations include descriptions of these youth being emotionally immature, overly exuberant, rambunctious, and as having low tolerance for anger and frustration (Barkley et al 1992;Henker and Whalen 1989;Hoy et al 1978;Landau and Moore 1991). Although many clinicians may know ED when they see it, a specific definition of ED is needed to guide scientifically rigorous research that is aimed at exploring ways in which ED can be measured, prevented, or treated.…”

Social and Emotional Impairment in Children and Adolescents with ADHD and the Impact on Quality of Life

“…Most of these issues are adversely affected by the delay in self-regulation that is usually associated with ADHD. Impaired self-esteem and sociability in adolescents is often the result [73].…”