Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Book Report/Review Example

The literature review focuses on ADHD, and covers relationships with LD adequately as well (Smith, and Adams, 2006). However, the clinical diagnosis of ADHD, tests to establish LD, the etiology of these conditions, the possible roles of parents and siblings in the prognosis of ADHD, environmental pressures which make children vulnerable to LD, language and ethnic considerations in the incidence of LD, and the effects of ADHD on learning performances of other children in a class-room environment, are important aspects of the subject the authors sought to study, which have not been covered adequately in the literature review.

The latter has also failed to take cognizance of research methods in psychiatry (Freeman, and Tyrer, 2006). The literature review has not considered work from outside of the United States: ethnic aspects have also been ignored though LD testing and assessment can be affected by language issues in minority groupings. The discussions reflect the primary data collected in statistically valid manner. The conclusions drawn in the report are in consonance with the analyses of collected data. The study is rare in that more than 9 thousand children have been covered on a national basis.

Research in psychiatry does not usually accommodate such large samples (Freeman, and Tyrer, 2006). The primary data has been subjected to standard error processing after cross tabulation and confidence levels have also been computed. The study meets statistical rigor in this sense. However, samples were not stratified across age groups, racial details, economic criteria, or type of school attended.Study Limitations The study suffers from severe limitations. The most important of these relates to the method of data collection.

Parental reporting of ADHD and LD are not valid ways of establishing that such conditions exist. The telephone is an inappropriate instrument for the collection of such sensitive information. The authors mention that the relevant questions were embedded in a more comprehensive survey, leading to possibilities of further errors die to respondent fatigue. The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) of the respondent parents is not known: ADHD and LD can occur because of psychiatric disturbances amongst parents.

Similarly, the mental states and capabilities of siblings have not been researched, though it is entirely possible that these can be contributory factors for both ADHD and LD. Teachers and Primary Care Physicians have not corroborated the telephonic responses of parents, and the physical health of the children surveyed through parents has not been assessed or even considered. Academic performances of other children in classes with the children reported to have ADHD and LD, have not been tracked.

Data of private and public schools have not been separated, though the quality of instruction varies greatly from one school to another. Age and sex of the children have been disregarded. The study objectives, the hypothesis, and