A Study of Expressive Behaviors and Emotion-Regulatory Strategies during Disappointment Situation in School-Aged Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• Main Authors: HSU, YU-NAI, 徐于乃
• Other Authors: Shyu,Li-Yu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/ru68hg

碩士 === 東吳大學 === 心理學系 === 105 === Research Objectives Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder（ADHD） is a common neurodevelopmental disorder. The core symptoms of ADHD include：inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, which was displayed and persisted from childhood into adolescence or adulthood. In recent years, there has been increasing discussion about the issues of emotion dysregulation in children with ADHD. However, as for the problems of ADHD children’s emotion regulation, the results are varied from methods to methods. Therefore, the study aims to compare the differences in emotion regulation between children with ADHD and non-ADHD by using an experimental study paradigm and multiple measure methods. Research Design The participants were 84 children, ages 6 to 12 years, either with ADHD （n = 42）or control group（n = 42）. The disappointment gift paradigm was used to induce children’s negative emotion. Each child was given an undesirable gift after some works. The disappointment procedure was divided into two situations: a social situation during which the experimenter was present and a nonsocial situation during which the child was alone. Children’s expressive behaviors and emotion-regulatory strategies were observed and coded during the disappointment task. After the end of nonsocial situation, each child was interviewed about their emotion experience during the disappointment procedure. Data were collected from observational method and self-report were analyzed by one-way multivariate analysis of variance to compare emotion regulation of two groups. Research Result There was no significant difference between the two groups in the emotional categories reported by children. However, children with ADHD reported that they had stronger feelings of sadness than children in the control group. ADHD children showed more negative emotion during the disappointment procedure than control group. During the social situation, the emotion-regulatory strategies of children with ADHD were equivalent to control group. But after experimenter left, ADHD children displayed less passive toleration and more disruptive behavior than control children. Discussion Apparently, children with ADHD do realize the rules of emotional expression under the social norms, and try to work together. Therefore, under the social constraints, they attempt to express and regulate their emotions, which is similar to control group. However, when absences of rules or structures, ADHD children were found to be more negative in their emotional displays and were prone to endorse more disruptive behavior.