Social perceptions about attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder and other disruptive behaviour disorders

Abstract

This thesis tested the first part of a new theoretical model, aiming to contribute to the understanding of sex differences in the prevalence of Disruptive Behaviour Disorders (DBDs) in boys and girls. Specifically, gendered perceptions of DBDs, as expressed by parents and prospective educators, were examined. An analogue methodology using written descriptions of child disruptive behaviour followed by rating scales assessing several perceptual dimensions like severity and untypicality was used, along with the SDQ (Goodman, 1997) and rating scales of adults’ emotional reactions and sense of self-efficacy. The first of four studies demonstrated that prospective educators consider DBDs as more untypical in girls rather than boys. This finding was replicated in all studies. The second study showed that prospective educators consider hyperactivity as more severe in boys, whereas the third study established that mothers rate DBDs as equally severe in both sexes. The fourth study showed that correlates of severity and untypicality are different in quality and strength for mothers and prospective educators. For mothers, ratings of severity are mostly related to the emotions evoked by the child’s behaviour, whereas, for prospective educators, they are mostly related to their sense of self-efficacy to handle the child’s behaviour, which is lower in the case of hyperactive boys. To summarise, this thesis has shown that parents and prospective educators have several gendered perceptions of child disruptive behaviour, with higher untypicality conferred to girls’ hyperactive behaviour. Moreover, the role of the adult toward the child and the specific DBD subtype examined seem to influence these differences. Implications of these findings for socialisation practices and referral attitudes that might relate to the reported sex difference in the prevalence of DBDs are discussed.