ADHD in Children: Understanding the Disorder and Its Impact

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. It begins by defining ADHD and outlining its core symptoms, including inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The essay then delves into the potential causes of ADHD, discussing both genetic factors and environmental influences, such as parental behavior. It explores the impact of ADHD on children, including language development and communication problems, as well as motor activity and physical performance issues. The essay reviews various treatment approaches, including pharmacological interventions like amphetamines and non-pharmacological treatments like physical activity. It also examines the broader impact of ADHD on siblings and family dynamics. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of addressing the needs of children with ADHD through tailored educational approaches and support systems. The provided research highlights the prevalence and severity of ADHD in children, emphasizing the need for comprehensive strategies to support affected individuals and their families.

Running head: ADHD IN CHILDREN
ADHD in children
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Many individuals of the society are found to be suffering from a variety of disorders.
Such disorders can be both physical and mental in nature. While most of the physical disorders
are curable in nature, it is comparatively harder to treat the mental disorders (Zhu et al., 2014).
This is due to the reason that the mental development of the individuals is something inherent
and it depends on variety of factors, each of which play an influential role in determining the
extent of this development. The extent of mental development of any individual of the society
gives a unique characteristic feature to such a concerned person. The manner in which they
interact with the other people of the society and the way in which they perform and execute their
actions in the personal and the professional sphere, are all dependent on the efficiency with
which they can comprehend their surrounding environment (National Collaborating Centre for
Mental Health, 2018). The purpose of this assignment is to understand the issue of ADHD in the
individuals of the society, particularly the children community. To this extent, various secondary
sources of literature have been analyzed and examined in order to understand the prevalence and
severity of this issue.
Body
ADHD refers to attention deficit hyperactive disorder which is one of the most
commonly prevailing childhood disorder among the human society. According to Pastor et al.
(2015), the symptoms of this disorder includes those if inattentiveness, hyperactivity and that of
impulsivity. However, the extent and severity of each of these symptoms vary from one
individual to the other. The children or the other individuals of the society who are diagnosed
with this disorder is seen to face the issues of sitting still for a long period of time, completing

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any task in an efficient manner in either the educational institutions or within their home
environment and face the difficulty in following directions (Ruiz-Goikoetxea et al., 2018).
According to Mautner, Granström and Leark (2015), there are no particular causes of
ADHD. This disorder is mainly tested to be existing in the families of the individual who are
diagnosed with it. As a result, it can be observed that there is a general understanding that the
disorder of ADHD occurs as a consequence of the genetic characteristics which are present
within the ancestors and parents of the individuals and passed on to them (Hodgson, Hutchinson
& Denson, 2014).
However, as argued by Hiscock et al. (2015), it can be seen that ADHD is also
considered to be existing because of several external factors such as the behavior of the parents
around the children. For instance, if a child is brought up in a household where there is
considerable hostility existing amongst the two parents, then the mental development of the child
gets affected adversely (Cuffe et al., 2015). They start to disassociate themselves from the world
in order to tackle with their pain and it is this disassociation which leads them to develop
attention deficiency and that of hyperactivity issues.
ADHD is known to create certain observable problems within the individuals so
diagnosed with. One of this issue is that of the problem of language development and
communication. Sciberras et al. (2014) sought to understand the issue of language problem
among the children who suffer from the attention deficit and hyperactive disorder. To this extent,
they compared the findings of the survey conducted on the ADHD children and the individuals
who do not suffer from this problem. This collected result was further related to the impact it has
on the language problems and the impact it has on the academic and social interaction of the
children diagnosed with ADHD. One hundred and seventy nine children of six to eight years

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studying in Melbourne school, were selected for the survey process. The ADHD faced by them
was assessed by the use of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children IV and the Conners 3
ADHD. The oral language of the students, their academic functioning and the extent of their
social interaction were all measured with the aid of different kinds of techniques. The study
concluded that the people suffering from such attention deficit and hyperactive disorder face
certain language problems. They have poorer comprehensive power and therefore, cannot read
the words and associate them with the objects in the surrounding environment. They also face a
severe challenge in the field of math competence and academic competence. However, the study
observed that such a problem in languages was not associated with any kind of poorer social
interacting skills. Thus, the study concluded that the children who suffer from ADHD had a
significantly higher prevalence of the issue of language problem than the controlling group of
non ADHD problems. Furthermore, the language problems among the young population with
ADHD contributed to a significant poor academic functioning skills.
Another issue which can be observed within the individuals who suffer from the issue of
attention deficit and hyperactive disorder is that of motor activity and physical performance
issues. Ziereis and Jansen (2015) were of the idea that the children who are diagnosed with
attention deficit and hyperactive disorder often show a deficit in their cognitive and motor
abilities. There are several pharmacological treatments which are used to reduce the impact of
the symptoms of ADHD in the children. However, it is mainly the various non-pharmacological
treatments which are usually preferred by the parents to aid their children in resolving this
disorder. Among such preferred mode of treatments, the most commonly used is that of physical
activity. Physical activity aids to improve the cognitive functions of the individuals who are

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healthier. The authors therefore hypothesized that such physical training and activity would have
the same beneficial impact on the children who suffer from the ADHD.
Several studies have emerged in the field of contemporary literature that seeks to expose
on the ways by which such attention deficit and hyperactive disorder can be treated among the
younger population. Punja et al. (2016) talked about the ways by which the issue of attention
deficit and hyperactive disorder can be cured within the children population of the society. They
believed that ADHD is a psychiatric condition which is found to affect the children and the
adolescents. Amphetamines are the most common prescribed medication which are used to
manage this disorder of ADHD. There are mainly three different classes of such amphetamines
such as that of lisdexamphetamine, dexampjetamine and that of mixed amphetamine salts which
are further classified to long and short action formulations. The authors concluded twenty three
trials, where around 2675 children belonging to ages three to seventeen had participated. The
study concluded that the amphetamines helped to improve the core symptoms of ADHD to a
significant extent. However, they are not without its limitations. The most commonly observed
adverse effects included that of decreased appetite, abdominal pain, insomnia and anxiety
attacks.
The issue of attention deficit and hyperactive disorder is seen to have a significant impact
on the other individuals of the society. Peasgood et al. (2016) talked about the impact of the child
suffering from ADHD on their siblings. An observational study was undertaken in the region of
the United Kingdom where the impact of ADHD on both the patient and their siblings was
sought to be analyzed. Around five hundred patients and three hundred siblings were chosen for
the process of survey. Their happiness in life and health related quality of life were quantified by
the use of multiple standards of measures. In the study, it was concluded that the children

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suffering from ADHD had less sleep and were considerably less happy with the other members
of the families and their life in general. The authors did not find any decrement to the heath
related quality of life of the siblings so identified except the ones related to their own personal
problems. Furthermore, there was also an elevated case of bullying among the siblings observed
in the households which consisted children suffering from ADHD. The overall study concluded
that there was a considerable reduction in the quality of life caused as a result of ADHD as
experienced by both the individual suffering from ADHD and their siblings.
The significance of this research study lies in the fact that it seeks to understand the issue
of attention deficit and hyperactive disorder as prevailing within the population of the world,
particularly the children of the society. ADHD is seen to be the most common disorder which
affects the younger population (Lange et al., 2016). A variety of reasons have been noted in the
study which have the potential to cause ADHD such as those of genes and the issue of external
environment. However, there are many other unknown reasons which also leads to the
occurrence of ADHD among the individuals. The research study has focused on the issue of
language and communication problem that is observed among the individuals facing such the
attention deficit and hyperactive disorder (Päkkilä et al., 2014). The motor and the cognitive
issues which arises from the prevalence of ADHD is seen to affect both the individuals
diagnosed with the disorder and their family members especially their siblings. In this context,
the research has looked in to the various strategies which can be adopted in order to minimize the
symptoms that arise from the attention deficit and hyperactive disorder. To this extent, the
research has mentioned about the importance of physical activity and that of the use of
amphetamines. The significance of the research lies in the comprehensive and holistic approach
to the entire field of ADHD.

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Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be observed that ADHA has a severe impact on the young
population of the society. The children are considered to be the future of the society and it
depends upon them to ensure the progress and development of the community in which they live
in. In this regard, it is the responsibility and the obligation of te elderly population to ensure that
the various issues that are faced by their children are properly addressed and resolved in an
efficient manner. The issue of attention deficit disorder is something which is present in most of
the children of the community. It is an unintentional phenomenon on which the concerned
individuals do not have any control over. To this extent, various policies and programs need to
be developed in order to counteract this issue. The traditional forms of communication and
lecture method of dissemination of education cannot be used in the context of such children. The
teachers need to undertake innovative and newer techniques of imparting education. The main
objective is to impart knowledge to the children community and to ensure its effective
implementation in the society. As a result, the children who are suffering from an attention
deficit disorder need to be treated in a more gentle and patient manner than the other children of
the community.

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