ADHD entails a genetic and chronicbrain disorder that impedes one’s capacity to accomplish functioning skillsthat support learning: memory, attention, and concentration. ADHD begins inchildhood but can persist into adulthood.
It should be diagnosed and treatedearly to save the patient unnecessary suffering. This paper will respond tolevel one and level two questions. Level one question is, which culturaltraditions affect treatment? Level two questions are: Are Hispanics less likely to get diagnosed withADHD in the US? Does culture, Genes, or Environment cause ADHD? Is it true French kids don’t have ADHD?ADHD is not an Americancondition. However, a majority of the people believe so because it is acommonly diagnosed behavioral disability in the United States’ classroomenvironment. According to Moon (2011), this condition affects an average of 4%of the school-going children in the United States: over four million childrenand adolescents aged between four and 17 years live with ADHD in the UnitedStates. Faraone, Sergeant, Gillberg, and Biederman (2003) add that scholarshave based their research of ADHD on the United States for over 40 years.Furthermore, it is through the study of this issue in the United States thatenabled the American Psychiatric Association to define behavioral traitsaffiliated to this disorder and come up with an appropriate diagnostictechnique.
As a result, the prevalence of studies in which researchers focusedmore on the United States than other countries led to the belief that it is anAmerican disease that does not affect other parts of the world. Different culturaltraditions and factors account for different treatment and diagnosis patternsfor ADHD (Moon, 2011). In countries that practice Confucianism, ADHD treatmentremains relatively low as majority of the children may not be diagnosed withthe condition because its doctrines advocate morality. Thus, parents willnurture children to embrace harmony through developing moral behaviors in linewith their age, gender, and family to retain their social status. Such childrenare unlikely to portray unsocial behaviors, which define ADHD. However, westerncultures have high treatment rates for ADHD because their traditions supporthigh levels of independence and autonomy in decision-making.
During thelearning and developmental process, western schools encourage students topractice autonomy when adhering to the societal standards and values. As aresult, children make independent decisions that characterize their normativebehavior (Moon, 2011). Therefore, it is easy to detect unsocial behavior thatcharacterizes ADHD and subject the affected child to treatment.Minority races,unlike their white counterparts, are unlikely to be diagnosed with ADHD.
Hispanics and African Americans among other minority races are diagnosed andtreated for ADHD less than White children with African Americans beingdiagnosed at 2/3 the white children’s rate even though they have greatersymptomatology (Morgan, Staff, Hillemeier, Farkas, & Maczuga, 2013). Therate is even lower for Hispanics. Also, children from minority groups are lesslikely to receive ADHD medication than White groups.
France does notsupport ADHD as a biological disorder and does not consequentially apply ADHDmedication for treatment. Alternatively, the French meticulously investigatethe root cause of the unwanted behavior. They have discovered that the rootsare in the child’s environment, specifically from school relationships,friends, and family. However, American psychologists consider ADHD a result ofbiological causes (Wedge, 2012). In France, ADHD is managed through familycounseling instead of drugs like in America (Hodgkins, Brod, & Asherson,2011; Wedge, 2012).
ADHD impacts whitechildren more than other cultural groups (Morgan et al., 2013). This might beattributed to applying the wrong approaches.
This is reinforced by the factthat French children are unlikely to be diagnosed with ADHD than Americanchildren: French children have ADHD but at lower levels than the US. Prevalencein France is between 3.5% and 5.
6% of youth (Lecendreeux, Konofal, , 2011). Perhaps an essential thing would be to consider other usefulapproaches to dealing with the issue such as family counseling or therapysessions that do not involve medications. ADHDshould be diagnosed and treated early to save the patient from unnecessarysuffering.
This paper responds to level one and two questions, whereby thelevel one question sought to establish which cultural traditions affecttreatment. The level two questions focused on ADHD in relation to races andcultures. The research proved that ADHD is not an American disorder as itaffects other countries as well. The Level One question unveiled that culturaltraditions affect its treatment. Therefore, this paper informs readers thatthey should view ADHD as a condition that can affect any person, regardless ofrace, and should focus on behavioral change rather than adherence to culturalstandards during treatment. ReferencesHodgkins, P.,Brod, M.
, & Asherson, P. (2011). P01-296-Comparison of the burdenof illness for adults with ADHD across seven countries: a qualitativestudy. European Psychiatry, 26, 297.doi:10.1016/s0924-9338(11)72007-7Lecendreux, M.,Konofal, E.
, & Faraone, S. V. (2011). Prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Associated Featuresamong Children in France. Journal ofAttention Disorders, 15(6), 516-524.Moon,S. Y. (2011).
Cultural perspectives on attention deficit hyperactivitydisorder: A comparison between Korea and the US. Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies, 6, 1-11.Morgan,P. L., Staff, J., Hillemeier, M. H., Farkas, G.
, & Maczuga, S. (2013).Racial and Ethnic Disparities in ADHD Diagnosis from Kindergarten to EighthGrade. Pediatrics, 132(1), 85–93.
Wedge, M. (2012, March 8). Why French Kids Don’t Have ADHD.
Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd?page=4
