Psychology Essays (UOP)

Psy/315 Hypothesis Testing on ADHD

Hypothesis Testing on ADHD

Samantha Craig

PSY/315

5/12/2015

Amber Lupo

Statistical Research in the world today has many ways to formulate and discover new ideas. Hypothesis testing is going beyond the normal statistical steps of acceptance of just trying to prove that the hypothesis presented is correct or not. This type of testing is more about accepting the theory until something else proves it wrong, such as the null hypothesis, which is the opposite of the research hypothesis given. Attention Deficient hyperactive disorder also known as ADHD is when there is "a neuro-biological disorder, characterized by symptoms of inattention, over activity and impulsivity." (Charach & Fernandez, 2013) This is due to the fact that there is a lack of dopamine in the brain which is normally naturally made. Medication is usually what is prescribed to help with this disorder. The question is, is medication better for this disorder or is a well-balanced diet?

Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is considered a developmental disorder that usually begins in early childhood. This is shown by a chronic and persistent pattern of learning impairment in daily activities, social settings, and school functions. Characteristics of ADHD at such a young age is usually disruptive behaviors, aggressiveness, temper tantrums and lack of attention span. If this goes untreated or unnoticed it could lead to a dark path as they grow older. According to (Charach & Fernandez, 2013) that youth has a risk of skipping school, substance abuse, anxiety, dangerous driving, suicidal tendencies and even health problems

Pharmaceuticals are prescribed usually can be given at the start of age six. A few of the popular medication choices given out are Adderall rapid release and extended release, Cylert, Desoxyn, Dexedrine, Ritalin, and Strattera. Bourgeois FT, Kim JM, & Mandl KD, (2014) provides a full diagram of the types of medication approved by the FDA to be prescribed. This article also provides how long each pharmaceutical was studied and the affects given. The FDA is put into place to make sure that prescriptions that are given are safe, this is also where the side effects of medication are determined which are then labeled with the bottles given out. Usual side effects of these prescriptions can range from dry mouth, lack of appetite, weight loss, and anxiety.

While medications seem to be the first choice to helping those who suffer from ADHD there has been a rising interest in nonpharmasutical options. The biggest one to date is having those who have this disorder to have a healthy, clean diet. According to Newmark, (2009) "Research has shown a consistent relationship to the intake of artificial colors and/or preservatives on the symptoms of ADHD or hyperactivity." These studies show that many who suffer from ADHD tend to show more activity when artificial food coloring can cause certain outbursts that do not happen when on a strict diet. These diets take out the food coloring, have minimal caffeine, and lots of carbohydrates can produce a rise in blood sugar which then in turn produces the behaviors of this disorder. Along with these studies it show that those who intake less of those and more fruits and vegetables these characteristics lessen.

When forming a study of this caliper it is important to make sure that the population being targeted is important to understand. Sense ADHD can start at an early age and can even be diagnosed in those well into adult hood, the population for this would be targeted between the ages of ten and sixteen. This targeted population was chosen due to the fact that these are the in between ages. These children have had this diagnosis for a while and it wasn't based just on a whim. Now that the age demographic has been decided it would be time to decide how to get the sample size we need to perform the study. All these ages land the children in either middle school or high school. Therefore we would pull them from the same school district and ask the parents and teachers to participate in making sure that the study is followed.

Methods in statistics is very important and understanding the sampling method is huge. Sense the ADHD study is based on school children between the ages of 10 and 16 we want to narrow the sample size down to only 50. A random sampling method will be used to choose who will be in the study. This will also divide this study into two different groups of 25 children. One group will be prescribed medication in which the parents agree to let participate. The other group will slowly be put on a strict diet of only a few carbohydrates, limited food coloring and caffeine and more fruits and vegetables.

Once the subjects are in their two divided groups the study will begin. This will be a 6 month study this way the results will be more dependable. When on pharmaceutical medication it usually takes up to two weeks for the medication to actually start working due to the fact that it needs to get into the blood stream. This also allows group two to slowly get used to a well-balanced and healthier stricter diet than what they are used to. It is always better to wean people off of the toxins in their everyday food. During these 6 months the parents and teachers will be asked to document how each child has been doing. This provides us insight on how they perceive whether the medication or the diet is making a difference. Each week the participants will also be asked to complete a verity of things to test them on their attention span. Such as completing a weekly chart at home of daily chores.

During these weeks we will be completing frequency charts for each group. This is to keep track of each individual and their progress as well as a group as a whole. In the beginning of the study we would do a mean of each groups GPA. This will show us if there has been progress at school. This will then be done again at the very end to show if there was indeed and increase and to show which method provided the highest increase. The second frequency chart will be done at the same time but will depict a score of one thru ten on how well they do their daily activities based on by the parents. Once these charts are made we will then do a scatter diagram at the end up the study. This two will be two different charts. The first one will be the GPA of the students. Group A will be colored blue and Group B will be red. Each group will be represented on each diagram. The second one will be again based on daily activities achieved at home. Having both groups represented on each will show us a clear idea of the relationship of if medication or diet has made a bigger impact on their lives.

In conclusion Attention Hyperactive Disorder is a difficult behavior problem to have that does affect many people. If untreated it can cause severe health and emotional consequence. There are many different options out there to help treat ADHD and the two common treatments are pharmaceuticals and healthy strict diet. Each method provides positive and negative effects and should be considered thoroughly before making any desion. The anticipated findings of this particular study would most likely show that the medication has a stronger advantage of making a positive change in the students attention span, impulsivity and their over activity. Even though medication is the number one choice healthy diet should not be overruled and should be considered to be used along with the medication. This is an option because as helpful as the pharmaceuticals are, as the children get older they are more likely to want to stop taking them. Therefore if they are instilled with the idea of a well-balanced diet it should help them continue to be more in control of the disorder that they have.

References

Charach, A, & Fernandez, R, (2013, July). ). Enhancing ADHD medication adherence: challenges and opportunities. Current Science Country of Publication, 15(7), 371.

Bourgeois FT, Kim JM, & Mandl KD, (2014, July). Premarket safety and efficacy studies for ADHD medications in children... Plos One, 9(7).

Newmark, S. C. (2009, May). Nutritional Intervention in ADHD. EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, 5(3).

Aron,A. Aron,E.N.,& Coups, E.J.(2013).Statistics of Psychology ( 6th ed). Retrieved from the University eBook Collection database.