ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Few studies have examined whether separate dimensions of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT)-inconsistent alertness and slowness-have different external correlates from each other as well as symptoms of ADHD inattention (ADHD-IN). METHOD: Participants were 131 Spanish children (ages 6-16; 72% boys) diagnosed with ADHD. RESULTS: In regression analyses, ADHD-IN was positively associated with hyperactivity/impulsivity, conduct problems, defiance/aggression, anxiety, peer relations problems, and learning problems. SCT-inconsistent alertness was positively associated with hyperactivity/impulsivity and peer relations problems. In contrast, SCT-slowness was negatively associated with hyperactivity/impulsivity and conduct problems and positively associated with depression and learning problems. Results were consistent after controlling for depression, medication status, and sex. CONCLUSION: The findings support SCT to be a construct with two dimensions that have unique correlates relative to each other as well as ADHD-IN. Future research on SCT should separate these dimensions of SCT to provide a better understanding of the construct.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Cognition Disorders/psychology , Adolescent , Aggression/psychology , Anxiety Disorders/ethnology , Anxiety Disorders/psychology , Attention , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/ethnology , Child , Cognition Disorders/ethnology , Depressive Disorder/ethnology , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Female , Hispanic or Latino/psychology , Humans , Hyperkinesis/ethnology , Hyperkinesis/psychology , Impulsive Behavior , Interpersonal Relations , Male , Regression Analysis , Social BehaviorABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether data on the clinical profiles of psychiatric service users can inform the claim that Maori in the New Zealand community have an increased rate of bipolar disorder. METHOD: The standardized recordings of a variety of clinical phenomena previously collected in a New Zealand study of psychiatric service users was extracted for those persons who were diagnosed with a bipolar mental disorder. The individual clinical phenomena were then compared by ethnicity. RESULTS: The most dramatic result was the increased recording of high levels of overactivity or disruptive aggressive behaviour in Maori compared with European in psychiatric service users, despite which, the rates of the disorder did not significantly differ by ethnicity. CONCLUSION: In the community survey lay raters were deciding on the presence or absence of phenomena including hyperactivity without the contextual knowledge that clinicians use. It is possible that the Composite International Diagnostic Interview decision tree was being fed an excessive amount of that criterion.
Subject(s)
Bipolar Disorder/ethnology , Cross-Cultural Comparison , Ethnicity/psychology , Aggression/psychology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/epidemiology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/ethnology , Bipolar Disorder/diagnosis , Bipolar Disorder/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Diagnosis-Related Groups , Ethnicity/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Hyperkinesis/diagnosis , Hyperkinesis/epidemiology , Hyperkinesis/ethnology , Mental Health Services/statistics & numerical data , New Zealand , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/statistics & numerical data , Psychometrics , White People/psychology , White People/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
This study examined the applicability of the Chinese Version of Teacher's Report Form (TRF-CV) and estimated the prevalence of behavioral problems in a general population sample of 2,936 children aged 6 through 11 years in the Shandong Province of China. Teachers completed the TRF-CV and the Conners Hyperkinesis Index (CHI). The TRF-CV total scale showed satisfactory 2-week test-retest reliability (r = .83) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .94). The TRF-CV Total Problems, Attention Problems, Delinquent Behavior, and Aggressive Behavior had acceptable concurrent validity with the CHI (mean r = .62). With the TRF-CV Total Problems score of 26 as a cutoff, an overall correct classification rate of 90% for clinical sample and nonreferral required children was obtained. Exploratory factor analysis yielded six syndromes: Aggressive/Delinquent Behavior, Withdrawn/Depressed, Somatic Complaints, Attention Problems, Social Problems, and Thought Problems, with significant correlations with corresponding American cross-informant syndromes (mean r = .84). The overall prevalence rate of behavioral problems was 15.5% (95% CI = 14.2-16.8%), with a boy-to-girl ratio of 2.0:1 (chi2 = 59.70, p < .001). Younger boys exhibited more externalizing problems. These findings indicate that the TRF-CV is applicable for Chinese children, and the prevalence of behavioral problems shown by it among Chinese children seems comparable to that found in other countries. Although most of the American syndromes were well replicated, the differences in the present subjects, when submitted to principal components analysis, from American samples from whom the original syndromes were derived, could have prevented the study from replicating distinctions between aggressive vs. delinquent and depressed vs. withdrawn syndromes.
