Date of Award:

5-1999

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Gretchen A. Gimpel

Committee

Gretchen A. Gimpel

Committee

Carla J. Reyes

Committee

Lani M. Van Dusen

Abstract

Questionnaires compromised of (a) a description of a child (either male or female) exhibiting attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) behaviors (either predominately hyperactive/impulsive or predominately inattentive) and (b) 13 questions about the description were completed by 562 regular elementary education teachers in the state of Utah. The questions, which offered teachers a range of responses on a 5 point Likert scale, were designed to assess the extent to which the gender and behaviors of the child described affected the extent to which teachers were able to identify the child as being representative of a child with ADHD, teachers' attributional assumptions about the possible etiological causes and beneficial treatments for the child's difficulties, and teachers' perceived abilities to help the child. Results indicated that behaviors, but not the gender of the child described, significantly affected the teachers' abilities to recognize the child as being representative of someone with ADHD and significantly affected teachers' ratings of etiological causes for the child's difficulties. Neither behaviors nor gender significantly affected teachers' ratings of treatments. Behaviors, but not gender, significantly affected teachers' perceived abilities to help change the described child's actions, but did not significantly affect teachers' perceived abilities to help the described child become a better student. There were no significant interactions between behaviors and gender on any items. These results are discussed with an emphasis on the implications for school psychologists working with children with ADHD and their teachers within the context of the school system.

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Psychology Commons

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