Abstract
Males with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) are referred to specialists significantly more frequently than females. The aim of this study was to examine differences in mothers’ and prospective educators’ self-efficacy beliefs and severity perceptions towards boys and girls with AD/HD and to explore the inter-relationships between those perceptions and referral judgements. One hundred and fifteen female prospective preschool educators and 118 mothers of boys and girls aged 4–6, enrolled in kindergartens in Athens completed a questionnaire that: (a) presented a vignette describing a typical boy or girl with AD/HD, and (b) was followed by two scales exploring severity perceptions and self-efficacy beliefs with reference to the child described in the vignette. Mothers’ sense of self-efficacy was higher than educators’ and both samples had higher sense of self-efficacy towards girls with AD/HD than boys. Educators rated the boys’ behaviour as significantly more severe than girls’. Finally, perceived self-efficacy predicted severity perceptions and severity perceptions predicted referral decisions. To conclude, adults’ differentiated perceptions of severity of AD/HD in boys and girls, which might be influenced by their own limited self-efficacy beliefs, especially towards males, might account for a proportion of the differences in referral ratio of boys and girls with AD/HD.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abidin RR, Robinson LL (2002) Stress, biases or professionalism: What drives teachers’ referral judgements of students with challenging behaviors? J Emotional Behav Disorders 10(4):204–212
Abikoff H, Courtney M, Pelham WE, Koplewicz HS (1993) Teachers’ ratings of disruptive behaviors: The influence of halo effects. J Abnormal Child Psychol 21(5):519–533
Achenbach TM, Edelbrock CS (1981) Behavioral problems and competencies reported by parents of normal and disturbed children aged four through sixteen. Monogr Soc Res Child Develop 46(1 serial No. 188)
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th ed. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC
Andersen SL, Teicher MH (2000) Sex differences in dopamine receptors and their relevance to ADHD. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 24(1):137–141
Arnold E (1996) Sex differences in ADHD: Conference Summary. J Abnormal Child Psychol 24:555–569
Barkley RA (1990) Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a handbook for diagnosis and treatment. New York, Guilford Press
Berry CA, Shaywitz SE, Shaywitz BA (1985) Girls with attention deficit disorder: a silent minority? A report on behavioral and cognitive characteristics. Pediatrics 76(5):801–809
Biederman J, Faraone SV, Mick E, Williamson S, Wilens TE, Spencer TJ, Weber W, Jetton J, Kraus I, Pert J, Zallen B (1999) Clinical correlates of ADHD in females: findings from a large group of girls ascertained from pediatric and psychiatric referral sources. J Am Acad Child Adolescent Psych 38(8):966–975
Brooks L (2002) Elementary school teachers’ impression formation and referral decisions for children with behavior problems. Dissert Abstracts Int 62(8-B):3794
Brown RT, Madan-Swain A, Baldwin K (1991) Gender differences in a clinic-reffered sample of attention-deficit disordered children. Child Psych Human Develop 22(2): 111–128
Faraone SV, Biederman J, Keenan K, Tsuang MT (1991) A family-genetic study of girls with DSM-III attention deficit disorder. Am J Psych 148(1):112–117
Gaub M, Carlson CL (1997) Gender differences in ADHD: a meta-analysis and critical review. J Am Acad Child Adolescent Psych 36(8):1036–1045
Goodman R (1997) The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note. J Child Psychol Psych 38(5):581–586
Gray P, Miller A, Noakes J (1996) Challenging behaviours in schools. Routledge, London
Hodes TG (1997) Teacher tolerance, self-efficacy, causal attributions for student aggression, and intervention preference. (Doctoral dissertation, Fordham University, 1997) Dissert Abstracts Int 57(7-A):2866
James A, Taylor E (1990) Sex differences in the hyperkinetic syndrome of childhood. J Child Psychol Psych 31(3):437–446
Johnston Ch., Patenaude R (1994) Parent attributions for inattentive-overactive and oppositional-defiant child behaviors. Cognitive Therapy Res 18(3): 261–275
Kakouros E, Balourdos D, Rekoutis P (1995) Dierevnisi ton provlimaton pou antimetopizoun ta pedia pou parapemponte se Iatropedagogiko Kentro. [Investigation of referral reasons in a Child Mental Health Service]. Epitheorisi Simvouleftikis kai prosanatolismou 32–33: 61–76 [In Greek]
Kakouros E, Maniadaki K, Papaeliou Ch (2004) How Greek teachers perceive school functioning of pupils with ADHD. Emotional Behav Difficulties 9(1):41–53
Kakouros E, Tzima-Tsitsika E, Tsitsika A, Balourdos D (1996) Children Referred to a Diagnostic – Consulting Center with Special Reference to Specific Learning Disorder. World Pediatrics and Child Care 6:44–49
Lau A, Takeuchi D (2001) Cultural factors in help-seeking for child behavior problems: value orientation, affective responding, and severity appraisals among Chinese-American parents. J Commun Psychol 29(6):675–692
Lennox D (1991) See me after school. David Fulton, London
Maniadaki K, Sonuga-Barke E, Kakouros E (2003) Trainee nursery teachers’ perceptions of disruptive behaviour disorders; the effect of sex of child on judgements of typicality and severity. Child: Care, Health Develop 29(6):433–440
Maniadaki K, Sonuga-Barke E, Kakouros E (2002, June) Parental attributions about potential causes of Disruptive Behavior Disorders in boys and girls. Oral presentation at the 21st International Human Science Research Conference, Book of Abstracts: 58, Victoria, Canada
Maniadaki K, Sonuga-Barke E, Kakouros E, Karaba R (2005) Maternal emotions and self-efficacy beliefs in relation to boys and girls with AD/HD. Child Psych Human Develop 35(3): 245–263
Masse LC, Tremblay RE (1999) Kindergarten disruptive behaviour, family adversity, gender, and elementary school failure. Int J Behav Develop 23(1):225–240
McGee R, Feehan M (1991) Are girls with problems of attention under-recognized? J Psychopathol Behav Assessment 13:187–198
Meijer CJ, Foster SF (1988) The effect of teacher self-efficacy on referral chance. J Special Edu 22(3):378–385
Pavuluri MN, Luk SL, McGee R (1996) Help-seeking for behavior problems by parents of preschool children: A community study. J Am Academy Child Adolescent Psych 35(2):215–222
Podell DM, Soodak LC (1993) Teacher efficacy and bias in special education referrals. J Edu Res 86(4):247–253
Poulou M, Norwich B (2001) The role of vignettes in research of emotional and behavioural difficulties. Emotional Behav Difficulties 6(1):50–62
Reid R, Riccio CA, Kessler RH, DuPaul GD, Power TJ, Anastopoulos AD, Rogers-Adkinson D, Noll MB (2000) Gender and ethnic differences in ADHD as assessed by behavior ratings. J Emotional Behav Disorders 8(1):38–48
Rhee SH, Waldman ID, Hay DA, Levy F (1999) Sex differences in genetic and environmental influences on DSM-III-R attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Abnormal Psychol 108(1):24–41
Saracho ON (1991) Teachers’ expectations of students’ performance: a review of the research. Early Child Develop Care 76:27–41
Soodak LC, Podell DM (1993) Teacher efficacy and student problem as factors in special education referral. J Special Edu 27(1):66–81
Stattin H, Magnusson D (1989) The role of early aggressive behavior in the frequency, seriousness, and types of later crime. J Consulting Clin Psychol 57:710–718
Tschannen-Moran M, Woolfolk Hoy A (2001) Teacher efficacy: capturing an elusive construct. Teaching Teacher Edu 17:783–805
Weiner B (1986) An attributional theory of motivation and emotion. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Maniadaki, K., Sonuga-Barke, E. & Kakouros, E. Adults’ self-efficacy beliefs and referral attitudes for boys and girls with AD/HD. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 15, 132–140 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-005-0514-3
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-005-0514-3