ADHD Controversies

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ADHD Controversies

• By Emerson p.

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Controversy Diagnosis

• The first controversy involves the accuracy and
  reliability of how ADHD is diagnosed. In the U.S,
  about 3 to 5 million school-age children are
  diagnosed with ADHD,with 4t o 5 times as many
  boys having ADHD as girls. Parents or teachers
  may label a child a child as having ADHD if the
  child is overwhelmed by the demands of school and
  acts outgoing, rambunctious , or difficult to
  discipline, since of diagnostic difficulties,
  pediatricians and family doctors were recently
  given the following guidelines for diagnosing
  ADHD Children should be 6-12 years old, show six
  or more symptoms of inattention and
  hyperactivity, have symptoms for at least six
  months, and symptoms should occur in both home
  and school.

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Controversy treatment

• Nondrug behavioral treatment- there is a nondrug
  behavioral treatment program that involve
  changing or modifying undesirable behaviors
  using learning principles. Such a behavioral
  treatment program, which requires considerable
  efforts by the parents, has been effective in
  reducing ADHD symptoms.
• Combined drug and behavioral treatment- the group
  of experts recommended a combination of Ritalin
  (methylphenidate) and behavioral treatment when
  children have more severe ADHD, when children
  also have significant aggression or have serious
  problem n school, or when there is need for a
  rapid response to severe ADHD symptoms. The use
  of Ritalin has risen 600 since 1993.

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Controversy Long-term effects

• the third controversy involves the long-term
  effects of ADHD. Many children diagnosed and
  treated for ADHD have now reached their early
  twenties. Researchers found that even when ADHD
  children are treated with Ritalin, between 30 and
  70 continue to have problems as adolescents and
  adults. They are less likely to graduaiate from
  high school or attend collage (only 1 finish
  college) and are at risk for showing antisocial
  behaviors, such as fighting , trouble with the
  law, or drug abuse.because ADHD is contiuing
  problem, researchers encourage parents and
  teachers to include behavioral programs such as
  setting goals, establishing rules, and rewarding
  performance to help those with ADHD deal with
  adolescence and adulthood.

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Code of ethics

• Experiments are not approved unless any
  potentially damaging effects can be eliminated
  or counteracted. Counteracting potentially
  harmful effects is usually done by thoroughly
  describing the experiment, a process called
  DEBRIEFING. Debriefing includes explaining the
  purpose and method of the experiment ,asking the
  participants their feelings about being
  participants in the experiment, and helping the
  participants deal with possible doubts or guilt
  that arise from their behaviors in the experiment

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Role of deception

• One way researchers control for participants
  expectations is to use bogus procedures or
  instructions that prevent participants from
  learning the experiments true purpose. However,
  before researchers can use bogus or deceptive
  methology,they must satisfy the American
  psychology associations code ethics.reseachers
  must justify the deceptive techniques by the
  scientific, educational, or applied value of the
  study and by giving participants a sufficient
  explanation of the study as soon as possible.

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Ethics of animals reseachers

• An estimated 18 to 22 million animals are used
  each year in biomedical researcher, which
  includes the fields of psychology, biology,
  medical, and pharmaceutical. Although these
  numbers seem larger, they are small in comparison
  to the 5 billion chickens eaten annually by
  citizens in the united states. However, it is the
  use of animals in researcher that has generated
  the most concern and debate. In the fields of
  psychology, about 85 of the nonhuman animals
  used by researchers are rats and mice, while 10
  are cats,dogs,monkeys, and birds. Well examine
  the justification for using animals in research
  and how their rights are protected.