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The main purpose of this study was to examine the services received by
children with Undifferentiated Attention Deficit Disorder (UADD) and
children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To
date, research has not investigated whether children with UADD and
children with ADHD receive different services. The underlying need to
investigate services was based on the strong literature support from the
latest editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
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Disorders and the data-based research that has documented differences
in characteristics and outcomes for children with different types of
attentional deficits. A review of the literature in these areas follows.
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Research has supported the DSM-III-R and DSM-IV’s distinction
between the two types of attention deficits. Although the clinician should
be aware of the similarities that children with both types of attention
deficits possess, such as cognitive impairments, a differential diagnosis
is still warranted based upon (a) empirical research that has docu-
mented that hyperactivity and attention problems represent two distinct
factors that do not always co-occur, and (b) the marked behavioral
differences between subgroups of children with only attentional prob-
lems and those with attentional problems and hyperactivity (Barkley et
al., 1990; Brown, 1995). Researchers have conducted a factor analysis
based upon behaviors listed on a rating scale, which represented the
diagnostic criteria for disruptive behavior disorders according to the
DSM-III-R (Healey et al., 1993; Pelham et al., 1992). Of most importance
to this review was the loadings on ADHD: one factor revealed a set of
items characterizing inattention while another illustrated impulsivity
and hyperactivity.
It has also been found that children with different types of attention
deficits have different characteristics and different outcomes (Silver,
1992). Generally, researchers have documented that children who have
attentional deficits with co-occurring hyperactivity–impulsivity have
more externalizing problems whereas those children with attentional
problems without hyperactivity–impulsivity have more internalizing
problems (Barkley et al., 1990; Brown, 1995; Dykman and Ackerman,
1993; Lahey and Carlson, 1991). More specifically, one study found that
children who manifested hyperactive symptoms were more likely to be
aggressive whereas those who had predominately inattentive
symptomalogy were more likely to exhibit academic performance diffi-
culties (Stanford and Hynd, 1994; Szatmari et al., 1989; Walker et al.,
1987). This same distinction was made by Silver (1992) when he
summarized the differences between the subgroups and stated that
children with ADHD were more impulsive, distractible, active, aggres-
sive with conduct problems while the children with ADD without
hyperactivity were generally more shy, withdrawn, sluggish, anxious
and depressed. Related to family background, recent research has
documented that children with ADHD were more likely to have mothers
who smoked during pregnancy and experience more family stress than
children with UADD (McIntosh et al., 1995).
The different types of attentional deficits also vary according to
prevalence rates in general and by gender. Prevalence rates for Atten-
tion Deficit Disorder without hyperactivity (ADD; 1 percent) were much
lower than prevalence rates for ADHD (4–6 percent; Szatmari et al.,
1989). Boys were more likely to have ADHD than girls and were more
likely to be identified with ADHD than were girls (Reid et al., 1994;
Szatmari et al., 1989). This gender difference has not been documented
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for children with attentional problems without hyperactivity–impulsivity
(Szatmari et al., 1989).
Given that the research supports a differential diagnosis between
attention problems and hyperactivity, it seems logical that children with
attention problems and hyperactivity would receive some different
interventions than would children with only attention problems (Silver,
1992). The educational interventions for children with ADHD and
UADD have been reviewed by Busch (1993) and he found that a wide
range of treatments have been and continue to be used with children
with ADHD and children with UADD, including medication, behavioral
modification and some interventions that lack empirical support (e.g.
special diets). Researchers have documented similar rates of medication
usage for children with UADD and children with ADHD (Walker et al.,
1987). Other researchers have found that children with UADD respond
better to lower doses of Methyphenidate and children with ADHD
respond better to higher doses (Stanford and Hynd, 1994). However,
research has not yet investigated if children with different types of
attention deficits are served differently within the school system.
One recent study has investigated the types of services and the
backgrounds of students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD). Reid et al. (1994) investigated the educational characteristics
and outcomes of 121 males and 15 females in the first through sixth
grades who were identified as ADHD by a physician and/or clinical
psychologist. Consistent with past research, children were most likely to
be identified with ADHD around the third grade and were predomi-
nately male. In terms of educational placements, 57 percent of this
sample were receiving special services. The most common labels for
special education placement and planning were behavior disorders (52
percent), specific learning disabilities (29 percent), and mildly mentally
retarded (9 percent). Almost 8 percent of children with ADHD were
experiencing speech-language impairments. The interventions and ac-
commodations that professionals utilized with these children were also
surveyed. Over 90 percent of the children were taking medication. Of the
interventions reported by teachers, behavior modification, consultation,
one-on-one instruction and a modified assignment format were report-
edly implemented to accommodate children with ADHD who were
eligible for special services (Reid et al., 1994). Related to educational
outcomes of children with AD/HD, Silver (1992) found that approxi-
mately 35 percent dropped out of high school, 40 percent received special
education services and around 50 percent had repeated a grade.
The purpose of this study was to examine if family characteristics and
types of services (e.g. medical, educational) received by children with
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) differ from those
received by children with Undifferentiated Attention Deficit Disorder
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Stormont et al.: Types of Services
(UADD). This study is important to the field for two reasons. First, there
has been limited research, in general, that has included children with
attentional problems who do not also have co-existing hyperactivity–
impulsivity. Second, research has not investigated whether children
who are differentially diagnosed with different types of attentional
deficits are receiving different educational and medical services. If there
is no difference in the types of services provided we must evaluate the
need to make a differential diagnosis among attention disorders and/or
improve the dissemination of information to professionals regarding the
different characteristics and needs of children with different types of
attention deficits.
Method
Participants
The participants in this study consisted of 130 children diagnosed with
ADHD (n = 74) or UADD (n = 56) ranging in age from 6 years, 10 months
to 13 years, 4 months. The mean ages were 115.68 months (SD = 18.87)
for the ADHD group and 124.75 months (SD = 17.03) for the UADD
group. Both genders were represented in each group with 63 males and
11 females in the ADHD group and 48 males and 8 females in the UADD
group. The ethnicity of both groups was predominantly Caucasian (71 in
the ADHD group and 53 in the UADD group). Three children in the
UADD group and two in the ADHD group represented Asian or Native
American ethnic backgrounds; one child in the ADHD group was
African-American. The children came from lower- to upper-class back-
grounds as determined by the occupation of the major wage earner in the
family and classified according to the Occupational Scale in Hollingshead’s
Two Factor Index of Social Position (Miller, 1977). The participants were
from two suburban public school districts near a large southwestern city.
The total student population of the two schools was 14,000 and included
students in grades preschool through 12.
Instrumentation
An Educational Information Questionnaire was developed to assess the
educational services, treatment efforts and family history of children
with ADHD and UADD (Mulkins, 1993). The questionnaire consisted of
11 items including age of diagnosis, presence/effectiveness of medica-
tion, family diagnosis of ADHD or UADD and educational services
received. Services such as grade repetition, Learning Disability (LD)
placement and gifted program placement were also included in the
survey.
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Procedures
Children were differentially diagnosed as ADHD or UADD, based on
DSM-III-R criteria, by physicians and licensed psychologists and veri-
fied by the investigators through school health and testing records.
Children diagnosed with other medical problems (i.e. Tourettes, sei-
zures, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, etc.) were excluded from the
study. Also excluded from the study were children who were adopted,
children whose parents gave more than one answer to a given question
and children with an ADHD or UADD diagnosis that could not be
verified by a physician and/or a licensed psychologist.
Results
The results indicated that there were few differences between the ADHD
and UADD groups (see Tables 1 and 2). The only significant difference
that was yielded between the two groups was the mean age of diagnosis
(t = 2.70, p < .007). The mean age at the time of diagnosis for the ADHD
group was 73.32 months while the UADD group mean age was 87.46
months. When parents were asked if their child was receiving medica-
tion, 99 percent of the children with ADHD and 100 percent of the UADD
children were receiving drug therapy (χ2 = .76, p < .38). The perceived
effectiveness of medication use for both groups was similar (χ2 = .84, p <
.66), 96 percent of the parents from each group indicated that it was
helpful. Proportionally, both groups had similar (χ2 = 1.64, p < .44)
occurrences of siblings and immediate relatives diagnosed with ADD.
Grade repetition was high among both groups, with 43 percent of the
ADHD and 43 percent of the UADD children having repeated grades (χ2
= .001, p < .96). Few participants of either group had received services
for giftedness, physical therapy, or mental retardation. Thirty percent of
ADHD and 30 percent of UADD children had received LD services.
Interestingly, when it was recommended to the parents that their child
receive some type of educational services, 9 percent of the UADD
children and 8 percent of the ADHD children had not received them.
Discussion
The results indicated that children with ADHD were diagnosed at a
younger age than children with UADD. Specifically, children with
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Stormont et al.: Types of Services
Table 1 Educational information of children with ADHD and
UADD from questionnaire
Item stem ADHD (n = 74) UADD (n = 56) Statistic
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Table 2 Educational services received by children with ADHD and
UADD
Services received ADHD (n = 74) UADD (n = 56) Statistic
Repeated a grade Yes 43% No 57% Yes 43% No 57% χ2= .001, p<.960
Speech/Language Yes 32% No 68% Yes 36% No 64% χ2= .153, p<.700
Therapy
Gifted/Talented Yes 5% No 95% Yes 9% No 91% χ2= .614, p<.430
Physical Therapy Yes 7% No 93% Yes 4% No 96% χ2= .635, p<.530
Occupational Yes 7% No 93% Yes 0% No 100% χ2=3.94, p<.050
Therapy
Counseling Services Yes 23% No 77% Yes 27% No 73% χ2= .250, p<.620
ED Yes 1% No 99% Yes 0% No 100% χ2= .763, p<.380
EMH Yes 3% No 97% Yes 0% No 100% χ2=1.54, p<.220
TMH Yes 0% No 100% Yes 0% No 100%
LD Yes 30% No 70% Yes 30% No 70% χ2= .005, p<.940
Remedial Reading Yes 23% No 77% Yes 30% No 70% χ2= .900, p<.340
Remedial Math Yes 4% No 96% Yes 9% No 91% χ2=1.31, p<.250
history of ADD and educational services received were also similar for all
of the children in this study.
The high rate of immediate relatives and siblings diagnosed with ADD
suggests a genetic aspect to ADD. The finding that ADHD diagnoses and
symptomalogy runs in families replicates past research, which has
documented that 30–50 percent of immediate relatives of children with
ADHD also have ADHD symptomalogy (Goodman and Stevenson, 1989).
It was also clear that students with ADHD and those with UADD were
not receiving services that they may need. For example, research has
documented that more than half of students with ADHD have co-
occurring psychological or behavioral disorders (Barkley, 1990), yet only
1 percent of our sample were receiving services for emotionally disturbed
and only 23 percent were receiving counseling. Again these did not differ
depending on type of attention deficit even though research has shown
that children with UADD are more likely than students with ADHD to
be anxious and withdrawn (Silver, 1992). The percentage of students
with ADHD and UADD receiving services for learning disability was
similar to past research (Reid et al., 1994).
The results of this study also raise the issue of the utility of using the
DSM when making a differential diagnosis to determine whether a child
has an attention disorder with or without hyperactivity since one of the
underlying assumptions for making a differential diagnosis is to expe-
dite treatment planning and to enhance treatment outcomes. Simply
put, why make a differential diagnosis between ADHD and UADD when
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both groups receive similar medical, psychological and educational
services? This is a difficult question to answer. For example, are the
etiological factors and critical symptoms that distinguish the two subtypes
of ADD identified within the DSM salient enough features to support the
use of a differential diagnosis among ADD subtypes? Obviously, more
research is needed before any conclusions can realistically be made
regarding the utility of making a differential diagnosis among ADD
subtypes. Therefore, it would be presumptuous to suggest, based solely
on the present results, that the reason ADHD and UADD children
receive similar services is because there is little validity in the criteria
used when making a differential diagnosis. However, it does warrant
further consideration.
In contrast, one could take the view that the DSM diagnostic criteria
for ADD is valid and the problem lies with the lack of knowledge among
professionals on how children classified as ADHD should be treated
differently from children classified as UADD. However, here again, little
research has been conducted to determine whether different treatments
are more effective for children classified as ADHD than for children
classified as UADD. Part of the confusion in designing medical treat-
ments for children classified as ADD is their response to medication.
Since there is variation among all children classified with ADD as to how
they respond to stimulant medication, physicians do not typically
differentiate between types of attention deficits in children when pre-
scribing medication (Rapport et al., 1986). It is also not surprising that
children with ADHD and UADD tend to receive similar educational
interventions and placements since school professionals are often un-
clear as to the multi-dimensionality of ADD symptoms. For example,
professionals often have difficulty accurately differentiating impulsivity
from hyperactivity (Barkley, 1990). Therefore, it is important to remem-
ber that ADD symptoms (e.g. attention problems) are multidimensional
constructs resulting in a very individualized set of symptoms for each
child classified as ADD (Barkley, 1989). As a result, a child classified as
ADHD and a child classified as UADD, each with their own set of
symptoms, should receive very individualized educational interventions
and placements.
Overall, extensive research has been conducted to examine the char-
acteristics of children with different types of attention disorders. However,
more research is needed to replicate the findings from this study.
Additionally, future research should more closely examine accommoda-
tions and/or interventions teachers are using for students with attentional
problems with and without hyperactivity to see if teachers differentiate
the way students are served within the classroom. If teachers treat
students with different types of attentional deficits the same in terms of
educational interventions, then there may be a need to re-explore the
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School Psychology International (1999), Vol. 20(4)
purpose of using separate diagnostic criteria for different types of
attention deficits. The other option would include more effective dis-
semination of information regarding the needs of students with different
types of attention deficits to professionals and teachers.
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