Browsing by Subject "International adoption"

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    ADHD symptoms, executive attention, and electrophysiological activity in post-institutionalized children.
    (2010-08) Wiik Cruden, Kristen Louise
    Prior research indicates children who experience early deprivation in institutional care have increased rates of attentional problems (e.g., ADHD) years after adoption. Limited and conflicting evidence suggests post-institutionalized (PI) children may demonstrate behavioral deficits on measures of attentional control, response inhibition, and conflict monitoring and resolution, capacities broadly referred to as executive attention. Previous research has documented increased concentration of electroencephalogram (EEG) relative power in low frequency (e.g., theta) bands in PI children, compared to never institutionalized children. Similar patterns of low frequency EEG power have been observed in individuals with ADHD, suggesting a potentially shared neurobiological correlate. The current study examined both behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of attention in PI children. Parent reported ADHD symptoms, behavioral performance on two computerized executive attention measures, and resting EEG power were collected in a sample of 5 ½-year-old internationally adopted PI children (n = 25) and compared to same age non-adopted (NA) children (n = 33). Resting EEG collected when the children were 18 months of age was examined in longitudinal analyses. Consistent with prior research, PI children had increased levels of ADHD symptoms, although most children's symptoms were below a clinical threshold. No group differences were found in behavioral performance on executive attention measures. Analysis of longitudinal EEG data indicated PI children demonstrated greater concentration of low frequency EEG power (e.g., theta) than NA children at 18 months of age, and this group difference remained at age 5 ½, despite the PI group having spent an average of 4 ½ years in adoptive care. Contrary to hypotheses, concentration of frontal relative EEG power in the theta band at age 5 ½ was associated for PI children with more accurate performance on an executive attention task. In addition, in PI children increased concentration of low frequency frontal relative EEG power at age 18 months was associated with lower ADHD symptoms at age 5 ½ years. Interpretation of these results is limited by small sample size, particularly for the EEG analyses. However, these findings suggest the importance of considering brain-behavior relationships in respect to developmental context (e.g., resource poor vs. resource rich environments).
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    Is deprivation-related ADHD different from ADHD among children without histories of deprivation?
    (2012-07) Loman, Michelle M.
    Children reared in the deprived environments of institutions (e.g., orphanages) are at increased risk for problems with inattention and hyperactivity. Although these children have been reported to have higher rates of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses than would be expected in the general population, it is unclear if ADHD among post-institutionalized (PI) children is different from that among never institutionalized children. This study directly compared the clinical and symptom profile, executive function task and delay aversion task performances, and event-related potentials of 11- to 15-year-old internationally adopted PI children with ADHD (PI-A) to PI children without ADHD (PI-N) and non-adopted children with ADHD (NA-A). PI-As were found to be adopted primarily from Eastern European countries following longer periods of institutionalization than PI-Ns. They performed more poorly on most of the behavioral measures of executive function than PI-Ns; although the performance generally did not differ from NA-As. Relative to NA-As specifically, PI-As reported elevated disinhibited social behavior and, among males, demonstrated more aversion to delay, and had smaller overall N2 amplitude associated with a Go/No-go task. The results indicate that deprivation-related ADHD has an overlapping clinical profile with standard ADHD in addition to a few unique features. This profile associated with early deprived care could be considered a phenocopy of standard ADHD. A description of the deprivation-related ADHD profile has potential implications for identification and treatment of ADHD behaviors among PI youth.