Attention deficit disorder.

Psychiatric reports of attention deficit disorder affecting children’s behavior have existed for many decades; however the diagnosis has become more frequent in recent years. Attention deficit disorder is now recognized in many cultures (Faraone & Biederman, 2004). Children diagnosed with the disorder have difficulty in paying sustained attention to issues or to other people and are easily distracted by new stimuli. Attention deficit children are impulsive and hyperactive and in constant motion interrupting the ongoing activities of others. Since the same diagnostic criteria for attention deficit are not used in all societies it is difficult to assess cultural differences in rates of occurrence from comparative cross-cultural studies. Boys are more frequently diagnosed with attention deficit as compared to girls a finding that is consistent in all societies. The overall diagnostic rates vary from 5.8 percent in Brazil to 14.9 percent in the United Arab Emirates (Rohde, Szobot, Polanczyk, Schmitz, & Martins, 2005; Bu-Haroon, Eapen, & Benner, 1999). However, these comparative rates may not be reliable as they depend on one or a few sources reporting on the behavior of children in the class room. Nevertheless, the rates reported are very high and attention deficit disorder obviously affect many thousands of children around the globe.

The cultural context is seen as the primary mediator for children developing the disorder. Western cultures create conditions that elicit attention deficit disorder with increased complexity and constantly changing stimuli derived from the use of technology and other sources. The globalization of the post-modern society brought this stimulation into societies more tranquil in past history (Timimi, 2004). Families live hyperactive lives in modern Western societies where the focus is constantly changing and the pace of complexity is increasing. Educational institutions impose more and more demands on children’s achievements. Today’s kids are exposed constantly to high levels of stress caused by meeting increasingly high standards. The reason that the disorder has been diagnosed more frequently in recent years can be attributed to the increasing complexity brought on by rapid social and technological change in recent decades. However, other researchers note that ADHD is found in many different cultures, and think it has an as yet not well understood neurobiological basis. This is an area of research in need of more comparative studies from different parts of the world in the future. The neural pathways that contribute to ADHD will hopefully be better clarified in the years to come. At the same time we need to better understand how the rapid pace and complexity of modern life promote the development of attention deficit in children.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 783