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Abstract
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Objectives
Problem behaviors are not uncommon in children with developmental disability (DD), such as pervasive developmental disorder and intellectual disability. Also, some of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have problem behaviors, such as aggression. Both are considered as neurodevelopmental disorder, but have different clinical feature and course. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of problem behaviors between children with DD and children with ADHD.
Methods
A total of fifty four children with DD and fifteen children with ADHD participated in this study. Children with DD were recruited from a special school for children with DD and those with ADHD from a child and adolescent psychiatric clinic in our institute. Though the specific diagnosis of DD wasn’t made by a clinician, we assumed that they have a diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorder or mental retardation based on a report of teachers from a school. The diagnosis of ADHD was made based on DSM-5 by a child psychiatrist. Their age ranged from 6 to 18 years. We requested their parents or caregivers to fill out the two scales, which are Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Behavior Problem Inventory (BPI). We analyzed the data using t-test at p-value of <0.05.
Results
The mean age of each groups were 12.6 (SD 3.13) and 12.6 (SD 2.99) years old, respectively. There were forty-five boys (83.3%) in children with DD and eleven boys (73.3%) in children with ADHD. In results of CBCL, T- scores of total problem behavior, externalizing problem, anxious/depressed, somatic complaints, rule-breaking behavior, and aggressive behavior were significantly higher in children with ADHD than in those with DD. Among problem behaviors evaluated by BPI, score of aggressive/destructive behavior was higher significantly in children with ADHD than in those with DD. However, there were no significant difference in the scores of self injurious behavior and stereotyped behavior.
Conclusion
These studies suggested that problem behaviors in children with DD from a special school might not be remarkable compared to children with ADHD. Therefore, if children with DD show problem behaviors, those need to be further investigated in an aspect of the psychopathology other than core symptoms of DD.
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