Children With ADHD Take More Time To Adjust In School Setting, Study Finds

Children who have symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) take a lot of time in adjusting with school setting compared to other kids of the same age, according to a study. The study stated that they lack behind in four areas of development.

These areas of functioning are language development, social and emotional development, physical wellbeing and motor development as well as approaches to learning, the study researchers said.

A total of 45 children in the study were either diagnosed or identified by their parents as having significant symptoms of ADHD. Meanwhile, the comparison group had 48 children without any of these symptoms.

After selecting the participants, the researchers began the study by confirming the levels of ADHD symptoms in them through a test. Then, they measured the five areas of functioning in children by conducting tests and administering parent questionnaires.

The five areas of functioning were approaches to learning, social and emotional development, physical well-being and motor development, cognition and general knowledge as well as language development.

The researchers said approaches to learning included various measures to executive function, which is “a person's ability to prioritize actions and tasks and exercise self-control to regulate behavior and meet long-term goals”.

The scientists then assessed the scores of the participants in each of the areas of functioning. The children were considered impaired if their scores were much worse than the scores of other children in their age group. The kids who scored very low in two or more areas of functioning were considered not ready for school.

The study found that children with ADHD were less likely to show impairment in the area of general knowledge and cognition than their peers. This area included IQ, especially, things people often associate with readiness to kindergarten, such as, the ability to identity numbers, colors, shapes and letters.

However, the researchers found that children with ADHD struggled in other four areas of functioning. They were 73 times more likely to be impaired in approaches to learning, seven times more likely to be impaired in social and emotional development, six times more likely to be impaired in language development and three times more likely to be impaired in physical well-being and motor development than their peers.

At the end of the study, the study researchers found that 79 percent of children with ADHD were not ready for school as compared to 13 percent in the controlled group. “We were pretty surprised at the proportion of kids within the ADHD group who were not school-ready. It's a really high number,” senior author Irene Loe said in a statement.

The study was concluded by stating that it is really important to identify and help preschoolers with ADHD for reducing their struggling in elementary level of schooling.

“We need to help general pediatricians figure out how they can flag kids who might be at risk for school failure. Thinking about how we can provide services for young children with ADHD or who are at high risk for the diagnosis is really important,” the senior author said.

The researcher also stated that many of the children show the major symptoms of ADHD, like hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity, in the preschool years and it is quite normal. This fact makes it difficult for parents and caretakers to identify children with ADHD.

“A lot of these kids are not identified until they're really having a lot of trouble in the school setting,” Loe, who is an assistant professor of pediatrics, said.

The research that was published in the Pediatrics journal Sunday focused on 93 kids belonging to the age group of four to five years old. While most of the study participants were going to school or they were enrolled in preschools, some of them were going to kindergarten.