Defense Date

5-31-2013

Graduation Date

Summer 2013

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

School Psychology

School

School of Education

Committee Chair

Kara McGoey

Committee Member

Ara Schmitt

Committee Member

James Schreiber

Keywords

ADHD, Attachment, Developmental Psychopathology, Parental sensitivity, School Psychology, Temperament

Abstract

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common and well-researched childhood disorders. Despite extensive knowledge, there remains a demand to understand ADHD from a developmental psychopathology perspective. Even more important than recognizing symptoms, it is necessary to determine how biological and environmental factors in a child's life play a role in the development of ADHD. In the proposed study, three significant factors were examined in relation to ADHD: attachment, temperament, and parental sensitivity with an emphasis on goodness of fit. Regression analyses were utilized to examine data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) to determine how these variables contribute to a diagnosis of ADHD and how temperament and parental sensitivity affect attachment style in relation to ADHD. A significant relationship between the variables and ADHD was found, although the relationship was not very strong. However, when examining attachment, results revealed that temperament is more of a significant predictor of attachment style than parental sensitivity. Implications for practice and future research recommendations based on these results are discussed along with a review of the extant literature base.Language

Format

PDF

Language

English

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