Teachers’ Knowledge and Misconceptions of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

Teachers can play a key role in identifying and supporting students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In order to fulfill this important role, it is imperative for teachers to have explicit knowledge about ADHD. The overall aim of this study is to investigate teachers' knowledge and misconceptions of ADHD. Four hundred and twenty-nine (429) teachers participated. The Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorder Scale (KADDS) along with a demographic questionnaire was used as the survey instruments to collect data. Descriptive statistics and correlation test were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that teachers' knowledge of ADHD was insufficient. Teachers' level of knowledge of ADHD was positively related to their prior training and experience with ADHD (i.e., the number of ADHD courses taken in college or graduate level, and the number of workshops pertaining to ADHD). Teachers' level of knowledge of ADHD also correlated positively with their level of confidence in teaching a student with ADHD. In spite of a few limitations, the results of this study are valuable for identifying areas where there is a misperception or lack of knowledge among teachers.

Knowledge and Attitude of Primary School Teachers in Tehran/Iran towards ADHD and SLD

“…Teachers have been found to have only basic knowledge of ADHD in Puerto Rico (González, González, Ramírez, & Rivera, 2008), Nigeria (Jimoh, 2014), and Africa (Perold et al, 2010); this was also true for general practitioners (GP) and pediatricians in Pakistan (Jawaid et al, 2008). Knowledge levels were shown to be lower than the desirable in Bahrain (Trute et al, 2008) and insufficient in Saudi Arabia (Alkahtani, 2013). Average ADHD awareness has been reported among teachers in Canada (Blotnicky-Gallant et al, 2014) and Iran (Ghanizadeh et al, 2006), as opposed to desirable in Vienna/Austria (Schweifer, 2009).…”

Teachers’ Knowledge of ADHD: Relevance of Training and Individual Perceptions // Conocimiento de los maestros sobre el TDAH: Relevancia de la formación y de las percepciones individuales

“…However, despite the interest in teachers' having extensive knowledge on this subject, different investigations show that teachers' level of knowledge differs from one study to another. A study that has shown the lowest percentages of knowledge of ADHD (Alkahtani, 2013) reported that the teachers obtained 17.2% of correct responses on the Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorders Scale (KADDS; Sciutto, Terjesen, & Bender, 2000). In contrast, the work of Bekle (2004) is among the studies that have found higher levels of teachers' knowledge of ADHD, with 82.85% of correct responses to the items of the ADHD Knowledge Scale (Jerome, Gordon, & Hustler, 1994).…”

“…In the studies carried out to assess teachers' knowledge of ADHD, two of the variables that have presented more intense relationships with this construct are Teachers' self-perceived knowledge of ADHD (Anderson et al, 2012;Kos et al, 2004;Soroa, Balluerka, & Gorostiaga, 2014a, 2014b and their Perceived capacity to teach or perceived self-efficacy to be a teacher of children with ADHD (Alkahtani, 2013;Jarque et al, 2007;Perold et al, 2010;Sciutto et al, 2000;Soroa et al, 2014aSoroa et al, , 2014b. Both variables refer to the teachers' individual perceptions of the topic, which may or may not correspond to reality.…”

“…In general terms, one must be cautious when interpreting the results obtained by teachers in the different investigations conducted to assess their level of knowledge of ADHD because most of the tools developed for this purpose do not have acceptable psychometric properties (see the review of those instruments in Soroa, Gorostiaga, & Balluerka, 2013). If we attend to the results of various studies using one of the most popular questionnaires in the literature on the subject, the KADDS (Sciutto et al, 2000), or the Spanish adaptation of this instrument (Jarque, Tárraga, & Miranda, 2007), the percentage of teachers' correct responses ranges between 17.2% (Alkahtani, 2013) and 57% (Stacey, 2003). These results show, more reliably and validly than the data obtained by means of other instruments, that teachers' level of knowledge about ADHD ranges between low and moderate.…”

Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-/Hyperaktivitätsstörung über die Lebensspanne

“…Aber aus verschiedenen Studien gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass Lehrerurteile z.B. durch geringes Störungswissen verzerrt sein können [Alkahtani, 2013;Anderson et al, 2012;Bekle, 2004;Ruhmland, 2013;Sciutto et al, 2000] bzw. sich Halo-Effekte zeigen können [Sayal et al, 2010].…”