Biomedical subjects

B S Molina

Publications and source records attributed to B S Molina.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Factor structure and criterion validity of secondary school teacher ratings of ADHD and ODD.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is currently viewed as a heterogeneous disorder with two factors: inattention and impulsivity-hyperactivity. This conceptualization of ADHD is based primarily on research with children or samples that mix children and adolescents. To examine if the 2-factor ADHD model is appropriate for adolescents and if the ADHD factors are distinct from Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in adolescents, teacher rating data were collected for 2 samples of adolescents. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis supported the convergent and divergent validity of a model with separate but correlated factors for inattention, impulsivity-hyperactivity, and defiant behavior. Further evidence of construct validity was found when factor scores were examined relative to the criterion variables of academic performance and rule-breaking behavior. The results support the utility of teacher ratings of ADHD and ODD in the assessment of adolescents, and the applicability of the DSM-IV conceptualization of these disorders to adolescents.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and problems in peer relations: predictions from childhood to adolescence.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether childhood attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and persistence of the disorder are associated with later difficulty in adolescent peer relations. METHOD: One hundred eleven children with ADHD were interviewed as adolescents and compared with 100 adolescents without an ADHD history (aged 13-18 years). The multi-informant assessment strategy included parents, teachers, and adolescents. RESULTS: Parents of probands reported fewer close friendships and greater peer rejection compared with the non-ADHD group. Probands reported that their friends were less involved in conventional activities compared with the non-ADHD group. Childhood aggression predicted less self-perceived social competence for probands. The long-term effects of ADHD on social functioning were more pronounced for probands with persistent ADHD or conduct disorder in adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Impairments in peer relations for ADHD youths, known to be common in childhood, also exist in adolescence. Given the developmental significance of peer relations, further research into the causes and treatment of poor social functioning in youths with ADHD is recommended.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Confirmatory factor analyses examining attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and other childhood disruptive behaviors.

Over the past 15 years, three distinct models have been used to characterize the factor structure of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These models correspond to descriptions of the disorder as outlined in DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and now, DSM-IV. Specifically, in DSM-III, inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity were treated as three separate constructs. In DSM-III-R, ADHD was treated as a unitary construct. In DSM-IV, impulsivity and hyperactivity remain combined, but inattention is considered a separate construct. The present study examined and compared each of these models using confirmatory factor analyses. A final set of comparisons was conducted examining ADHD symptoms together with oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) symptoms. Although support for the three-factor ADHD model (DSM-III version) was obtained when the ADHD symptoms were examined in isolation, the two-factor model of ADHD (DSM-IV version) was supported when ADHD and ODD/CD symptoms were examined together as part of a comprehensive model of disruptive behavior disorders.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Agreement among teachers' behavior ratings of adolescents with a childhood history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Examined agreement among secondary school teachers' behavior ratings for 66 adolescent boys with a history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Behavior ratings consisted of the Teacher Report Form, Iowa/Abbreviated-Conners, and the Disruptive Behavior Disorders Rating Scale. Ratings from 2 to 5 teachers were collected for each adolescent. In contrast to previous studies, agreement was examined using statistical indices that corrected for chance agreement and discrepancies in scores (i.e., intraclass correlation [ICC], kappa) in addition to traditional indices (i.e., Pearson correlation and percentage agreement) typically used in the relatively sparse literature on teacher agreement for adolescent behavior ratings. Agreement was poor for dimensional subscale scores (Pearson correlations were in the .40-.50 range, and ICCs were in the .20-.50 range) as well as for categorization of youth as above or below clinical cutoffs (percentage agreement was between 52% and 96%, but ICCs and kappas ranged from .17 to .57). Findings suggest that, regardless of behavior rating scale used, a multiple teacher assessment strategy should be adopted for clinical assessment, treatment design, and evaluation of treatment efficacy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Alcohol expectancies and drinking characteristics in parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Alcohol expectancies, drinking characteristics, and their association were examined in 587 adults: 431 parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 156 parents of children without ADHD. In addition to examining both traditional and parenting-specific alcohol expectancies for these adults, risk variables cutting across the two groups were considered: single parenthood and male gender. Few differences in mean expectancy levels were found between parents of children with and without ADHD, between single and married mothers, and between men and women. Furthermore, expectancies did not predict drinking differently across groups. However, there was some support for the utility of assessing parental expectations of alcohol's effects on interactions with children, and there were robust and interesting effects of socioeconomic status on expectancies and drinking. Single mothers also reported consuming higher quantities of alcohol than married mothers. Findings are discussed in terms of the link between ADHD and alcoholism, the ability of alcohol expectancies to explain drinking differences between high risk groups, the effect of socioeconomic status on these variables, and single motherhood as a vulnerability factor for increased drinking.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Sleep and anxieties in Brazilian children: the role of cultural and environmental factors in child sleep disturbance.

To test the contextual hypothesis of sleep disturbance, disadvantaged urban Brazilian children's self-reported fears were correlated with parental reports of children's sleep disturbance. Fears of death at the hands of "death squads," environment-related worries and other fears reflecting Brazil's political, religious, and collective culture all correlated with sleep disturbance. Results are contrasted with findings of earlier studies on sleep and anxieties in samples of learning-disabled adolescents and victims of lightning.

Anxiety Disorders↗

PubMed1994

A comparison of mechanisms underlying substance use for early adolescent children of alcoholics and controls.

The current study examined differences between children of alcoholics (COAs) and controls in parent monitoring, stress-negative affect, and temperament mechanisms underlying early adolescent substance use. Using structural equation modeling, we tested whether these mechanisms were equally predictive of substance use for both groups. We extended an earlier study that tested mediators of COA risk for substance use but did not examine COA status as a moderator of these mechanisms. Overall, we found no evidence of differential importance for COAs and non-COAs of the parent monitoring and negative affect mechanisms. Parental socialization and negative affect mechanisms significantly predicted adolescent substance use regardless of COA status. Differences did emerge regarding the effects of age and parent education on peer substance use and the effect of sociability on adolescent substance use.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Alcohol expectancies in early adolescents: predicting drinking behavior from alcohol expectancies and parental alcoholism.

The current study examined the role of alcohol expectancies and parental alcoholism in prospectively predicting alcohol consumption and consequences among early adolescents. We examined whether personal effects expectancies would predict "problem" alcohol use outcomes and if social effects expectancies would predict "normal" alcohol consumption. Although confirmatory factor analytic techniques showed considerable overlap between personal and social effects expectancies, we found evidence to suggest that distinctiveness between these constructs may increase at higher levels of alcohol consumption. Regression analyses supported the utility of alcohol expectancies in prospectively predicting alcohol consequences over and above pre-existing alcohol consumption, and parental alcoholism. However, there was no consistent support for the hypothesis that personal and social effects expectancies predicted different types of drinking outcomes, possibly because of the young age of the current sample.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Relation of parental alcoholism to early adolescent substance use: a test of three mediating mechanisms.

The current study assessed 3 hypothesized mediating mechanisms underlying the relation between parental alcoholism and adolescent substance use. Using structural equation modeling, we analyzed data obtained from a large community sample of adolescent children of alcoholics and a demographically matched comparison group. Results suggested that parental alcoholism influenced adolescent substance use through stress and negative affect pathways, through decreased parental monitoring, and through increased temperamental emotionality (which was associated with heightened negative affect). Both negative affect and impaired parental monitoring were associated with adolescents' membership in a peer network that supported drug use behavior. The data did not support a link between parental alcoholism and temperamental sociability.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disordered and control boys' responses to social success and failure.

The behavioral, self-evaluative, and attributional responses of 120 boys with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and 65 control boys to social success and failure were examined using a dyadic, laboratory get-acquainted task employing child confederates. Objective coders rated boys with ADHD as less socially effective than controls in their interactions, but also as less frustrated and helpless. In terms of self-evaluations, ADHD boys overwhelmingly rated their own performance more favorably than did controls and in some instances, these differences were more apparent following failure. The attributional pattern of ADHD and control boys differed in that ADHD boys were more likely than controls to attribute success to external, uncontrollable factors such as task ease and being lucky; controls, on the other hand, were more likely than ADHD boys to attribute initial failure to not having tried hard enough. Results are discussed in the context of existing literature documenting a positive illusory bias in ADHD boys' self-perceptions.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Substance use, substance abuse, and LD among adolescents with a childhood history of ADHD.

A clinic-referred sample of 109 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was followed into adolescence for the ascertainment of alcohol and other drug use and abuse. Learning disability (reading or math) in childhood was examined as a predictor of adolescent substance use and substance use disorder for alcohol and marijuana. No statistically significant group differences for children with LD versus those without LD emerged even after using different methods to compute LD. IQ/achievement discrepancy scores were similarly not predictive of later use or abuse. However, children with ADHD who had higher IQs and higher levels of academic achievement in childhood were more likely to try cigarettes, to smoke daily, and to have their first drink of alcohol or first cigarette at an early age. Children with ADHD who had higher reading achievement scores were less likely to have later alcohol use disorder. Although these findings are necessarily preliminary, due to the small number of children interviewed, the pattern of results suggests that level of cognitive functioning--rather than discrepancy between IQ and achievement--is important for the prediction of later substance use and abuse, at least in this clinic-referred sample of children with ADHD. Further, different mechanisms of risk related to cognitive functioning may be operating for experimentation with legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, regular cigarette smoking, and problematic alcohol use.

Adolescent↗