Behavioral Factors Influencing Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Study of Fourth Grade Behaviors

Abstract

“Let me see if Philip can Be a little gentleman Let me see, if he is able to sit still for once at table; thus Papa bade Phil behave; And Mamma look’d very grave. But fidgety Phil, He won’t sit still, He wriggles and giggles, and then, I declare swings backwards and forwards and tilts up his chair. (Hoffman)” This excerpt from Dr. Heinrich Hoffman’s poem, “The Story of Fidgety Philip,” written in 1845 is the first known description of a child with Attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder. Since 1845, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, has become one of the most common disorders among children. ADHD can be treated using medication, various forms of therapies, or a combination of medications and therapies. The purpose of this research paper, including an extensive review of literature, is to explore the relationship between behavioral impacts on ADHD-like symptoms. By doing this, different types of behavior therapy could be explored as an option to treat ADHD without using medication. A study was conducted with students and their parents regarding behavioral impacts on ADHD-like symptoms. The purpose of this study, which involved twenty students and twenty parents, was to discover whether a student’s behaviors at home affected the student’s behaviors at school. The survey used in the study was designed to analyze whether there was a relationship between the student’s ADHD-like symptoms and the student’s behaviors at home. This study focused on sleep habits, caffeine habits, television and movie habits, computer habits, iPod or other music device habits, videogame habits, and physical activity habits as well as symptoms linked to ADHD. The results of this study were inconclusive; however, the study provides a launching point for further studies that could possibly show a more detailed relationship between behavior and ADHD-like symptoms.