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Hyperactive childrens’ awareness of their behavior within the classroom setting : an interactionist perspective

University of British Columbia

The purpose of the present study was to investigate hyperactive and control childrens' awareness of their behaviors within the school system. In addition, hyperactive children described how medication affects their behavior and whether they feel it is necessary to control their characteristic behaviors. The rationale for the present, study was based on the fact that few studies have asked the hyperactive child about his awareness of his behaviors. Current research indicates the importance of self-perception studies. Researchers have intuitively assumed hyperactive children are not able to understand the affect of others so these children act and react inappropriately in social situations. However, this had not been empirically investigated. This research has implications for how significant others may be expected to interact with hyperactive children. Q-analysis procedures and techniques were used to gather and analyze the data. Three hyperactive children and two control children were requested to describe their classroom behaviors by rank-ordering a comprehensive list of items, each describing one classroom behavior. The items, which were gathered from theory, readings, subjects, and personal observations, were arranged by each subject into a predetermined (pseudo-normal) distribution pattern. The item scores for each subject were correlated and the correlation matrix factor analyzed. Each factor represented a single person. In addition, the difference between z-scores was analyzed which allowed differences between factors to be described. A structured interview was conducted with each subject to obtain further information on the subject's awareness of his classroom behaviors. Hyperactive children described their feelings about their medication regimen. Results indicated there are two subgroups of hyperactive children: ones who are unaware of their characteristic behaviors as negatively affecting significant others and view themselves as popular within the school environment and ones who view their actions as inappropriate with an accompanying low self-esteem with regard to their schooling. The medication interview indicated that hyperactive children feel drugs have a calming effect and they feel the medication is necessary for controlling their behaviors. It was concluded that viewing hyperactive children as unique individuals who may or may not be aware of their classroom behaviors must be incorporated into treatment strategies.

Text

2010-06-03

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25468

Educational Studies

University of British Columbia

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