Complete Schedule
Negative Halo Effects in Ratings of ADHD and Conduct Problems
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation (Electronic Copy Not Available)
Keywords
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder--Diagnosis; Discrimination against people with disabilities; Oppositional defiant disorder in children;
Abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neurodevelopmental condition typically first diagnosed in children who exhibit substantial inattention and/or impulsivity and hyperactivity (APA, 2013). ADHD can manifest similarly to other childhood conduct problems, such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD; Kuhne et al., 1997) but is distinct. The diagnostic process for these disorders often includes ratings from adults in the child’s life to assess behavior across settings (Rimvall et al., 2018). However, although the information gathered from these various raters is intended to better elucidate the potential diagnosis, these somewhat subjective measures allow for the possibility of rater bias (Emser et al., 2018). Researchers have identified negative halo effects in adult ratings of ADHD (Jackson & King, 2004; Hartung et al., 2006; Murray et al., 2007). Specifically, raters erroneously rated a child’s ADHD symptoms higher when the child exhibited conduct problems (Jackson & King, 2004), suggesting that in the presence of ODD symptoms adults assume ADHD symptoms are also present. So, given all this, my Master’s thesis is going to replicate and extend past research in an effort to examine negative halo effects in parent ratings of ADHD, ODD, and CD. Parents in the Cedar Valley area will read one of three vignettes portraying a child with either symptoms of only ADHD, ODD, or CD and then respond to scales measuring their endorsement of the DSM-5 criteria for those disorders and disruptive behaviors.
Start Date
3-4-2019 11:00 AM
End Date
3-4-2019 1:00 PM
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Elizabeth Lefler
Department
Department of Psychology
Copyright
©2019 Helena Alacha
File Format
application/pdf
Embargo Date
4-17-2019
Negative Halo Effects in Ratings of ADHD and Conduct Problems
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neurodevelopmental condition typically first diagnosed in children who exhibit substantial inattention and/or impulsivity and hyperactivity (APA, 2013). ADHD can manifest similarly to other childhood conduct problems, such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD; Kuhne et al., 1997) but is distinct. The diagnostic process for these disorders often includes ratings from adults in the child’s life to assess behavior across settings (Rimvall et al., 2018). However, although the information gathered from these various raters is intended to better elucidate the potential diagnosis, these somewhat subjective measures allow for the possibility of rater bias (Emser et al., 2018). Researchers have identified negative halo effects in adult ratings of ADHD (Jackson & King, 2004; Hartung et al., 2006; Murray et al., 2007). Specifically, raters erroneously rated a child’s ADHD symptoms higher when the child exhibited conduct problems (Jackson & King, 2004), suggesting that in the presence of ODD symptoms adults assume ADHD symptoms are also present. So, given all this, my Master’s thesis is going to replicate and extend past research in an effort to examine negative halo effects in parent ratings of ADHD, ODD, and CD. Parents in the Cedar Valley area will read one of three vignettes portraying a child with either symptoms of only ADHD, ODD, or CD and then respond to scales measuring their endorsement of the DSM-5 criteria for those disorders and disruptive behaviors.
