Observation of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) problems in three natural classroom contexts

Background. Observation studies of students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) problems in natural classroom situations are costly and relatively rare. Aims. The study enquired how teacher ratings are anchored in actual student classroom behaviours, and how the behaviour of children with ADHD problems differs from their classmates. The authors attempted to broaden the usual focus on disruptive and inattentive behaviours to elucidate the role of various on-task behaviours, as well as considering differences between classroom contexts. Sample. DSM-III-R criteria were used in conjunction with a teacher rating scale to select a sample of 55 students with ADHD problems, and 55 matched controls from a population of 569 primary school students. Method. Students were observed in their natural classrooms using the Munich Observation of Attention Inventory (MAI; Helmke, 1988). Correlations between teacher reports and observation codes were computed, and systematic differences between students with ADHD problems and controls in different classroom contexts were examined using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM). Results. Global teacher reports showed moderate to strong correlations with observed student behaviours. Expected on-task behaviour demonstrated the strongest relationship (r > -.70) with teacher reports. As hypothesized, the children with ADHD were more disruptive and inattentive than their matched peers. They were also less often inconspicuous on-task as expected by their teachers. However, their behaviour was assigned to two other on-task categories more often than their peers, and this raised their total on-task behaviour to over 66%. Situational differences were found for all codes as well, which mostly affected all students in a similar way, not just students with ADHD. Conclusions. ADHD related behaviours are pervasive across the classroom situations coded. Teachers appear to distinguish between desirable and undesirable on-task behaviours. Nevertheless, assisting students with ADHD problems require

Effectiveness of a competence training programme for parents of socially disruptive children

Modern evaluations of parent training programmes seek evidence not only of efficacy in optimal, often university clinic settings, but also of effectiveness under normal field conditions. The Kompetenztraining fur Eltern sozial auffalliger Kinder (KES) i

A short version of the self description questionnaire II : operationalizing criteria for short-form evaluation with new applications of confirmatory factor analyses

Four studies evaluate the new Self Description Questionnaire II short-form (SDQII-S) that measures 11 dimensions of adolescent self-concept based on responses to 51 of the original 102 SDQII items and demonstrate new statistical strategies to operationalize guidelines for short-form evaluation proposed by G. T. Smith, D. M. McCarthy, and K. G. Anderson (2000). Multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the factor structure based on responses to 51 items by a new cross-validation group (n = 9,134) was invariant with the factor structures based on responses to the same 51 items and to all 102 items by the original normative archive group (n = 9,187). Reliabilities for the 11 SDQII-S factors were nearly the same and consistently high (.80 to .89) for both groups. Multitrait-multimethod analyses support the internal validity of responses over time. Gender and age effects on the 11 SDQII-S factors were invariant across the archive and cross-validation groups