ADHD Symptomatology and Criminal Behavior During Adolescence: Exploring the Mediating Role of School Factors

Author(s):  
Stephen J. Watts

Prior research has shown that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) relates to various negative outcomes in adolescence, including academic failure, behavioral problems at school, and criminal behavior. However, this line of research has generally failed to explore whether ADHD connects to criminal behavior through its effects on school factors. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), this study finds that a retrospective account of ADHD symptomatology during childhood and early adolescence predicts weakened school attachment, lower grades, and higher risks for both out-of-school suspension and crime. School attachment, grades, and out-of-school suspension have the expected effects on crime among females and males. Among females, these school factors mediate the effects of ADHD symptomatology on crime. The effect of ADHD symptomatology on crime among males remains significant when controlling for school factors. Implications of the findings for policy and theory are discussed.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 985
Author(s):  
Shenghua Lu ◽  
Fabian Herold ◽  
Yanjie Zhang ◽  
Yuruo Lei ◽  
Arthur F. Kramer ◽  
...  

Objective: There is growing evidence that in adults, higher levels of handgrip strength (HGS) are linked to better cognitive performance. However, the relationship between HGS and cognitive performance has not been sufficiently investigated in special cohorts, such as individuals with hypertension who have an intrinsically higher risk of cognitive decline. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between HGS and cognitive performance in adults with hypertension using data from the Global Ageing and Adult Health Survey (SAGE). Methods: A total of 4486 Chinese adults with hypertension from the SAGE were included in this study. Absolute handgrip strength (aHGS in kilograms) was measured using a handheld electronic dynamometer, and cognitive performance was assessed in the domains of short-term memory, delayed memory, and language ability. Multiple linear regression models were fitted to examine the association between relative handgrip strength (rHGS; aHGS divided by body mass index) and measures of cognitive performance. Results: Overall, higher levels of rHGS were associated with higher scores in short-term memory (β = 0.20) and language (β = 0.63) compared with the lowest tertiles of rHGS. In male participants, higher HGS was associated with higher scores in short-term memory (β = 0.31), language (β = 0.64), and delayed memory (β = 0.22). There were no associations between rHGS and cognitive performance measures in females. Conclusion: We observed that a higher level of rHGS was associated with better cognitive performance among hypertensive male individuals. Further studies are needed to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms, including sex-specific differences driving the relationship between measures of HGS and cognitive performance in individuals with hypertension.


2017 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco José Gondim Pitanga ◽  
Maria Conceição Chagas Almeida ◽  
Ciro Oliveira Queiroz ◽  
Estela Maria Leão de Aquino ◽  
Sheila Maria Alvim Matos

ABSTRACT CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: The Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) was conducted among civil servants at six higher education institutions located in six Brazilian state capitals. The objective of this review was to identify the publications produced within the scope of ELSA-Brasil that analyzed the participants’ physical activity. DESIGN AND SETTING: Review study using baseline data from ELSA-Brasil. METHODS: Narrative review of Brazilian studies on physical activity produced using data from ELSA-Brasil participants. RESULTS: The prevalence of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among ELSA-Brasil participants was low (44.1% among men and 33.8% among women). The main factors associated were social (higher schooling and family income), environmental (living in places with conditions and opportunities for physical activity) and individual (not being obese, being retired, not smoking and positive perception of body image). The perception of facilities for walking in the neighborhood was positively associated with both LTPA and commuting-related physical activity. An active lifestyle was a protective factor against several cardiometa-bolic variables (hypertension, diabetes, lipid abnormalities and cardiovascular risk over the next 10 years). Comparison between LTPA and commuting-related physical activity showed that only LTPA had a protective effect against arterial hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of physical activity among ELSA-Brasil participants was low. The main determinants were social, environmental and personal. LTPA had a greater protective efect on cardio-metabolic outcomes than did commuting-related physical activity.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H Esposito

The association among a college degree and health is know to vary, in strength, across subsections of the United States population. Recent literature suggests that educational gradients in health are particularly dependent on contextual environments; higher-level social features, such as state of residence, have indeed been shown to modify how advanced educational credentials matters to well-being. To add resolution to this emerging insight, this study examines how \neighborhood environments, an especially salient level of geographic organization, impact educational gradients in the US. Using data from the Chicago Community Adult Health Study (n = 3,105) and Bayesian multilevel regression models, I examine how educational disparities in self-rated health and depressive symptomatology, between college and non-college degree holders, grow/shrink in response to a neighborhood-provided resource and with exposure to a neighborhood-level health challenge. Findings suggest that how tightly coupled a college degree is with well-being is strongly contingent upon one's immediate external risks, but less so on one's access to neighborhood social resources.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (13) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Dorothy E. Hines ◽  
Robb King ◽  
Donna Y. Ford

Although there are federal protections for students with dis/abilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 1975, Black students with and without dis/abilities continue to be suspended and expelled at rates that exceed their peers. Still, there is limited research on how Black girls and Black boys are disciplined across suspension types, and based on their identification for special education services. The purpose of this article is to examine the overrepresentation of Black girls and Black boys with and without dis/abilities and to determine, using a quantifiable percentage, how the overrepresentation of Black students for in-school and out-of-school suspension can be eradicated. We use data from the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection 2011–2012 to examine equity (justice and fairness) in disciplinary referrals using state-by-state and regional data. Using an equity formula, we analyzed national data to determine the magnitude of Black females’ and Black males’ overrepresentation in in-school and out-of-school suspensions for students with and without dis/abilities. This study indicates that Black females with dis/abilities had the highest rate of overrepresentation in the Midwest in in-school and out-of-school suspension. In comparison, Black males experienced a greater representation in in-school suspension. Regardless of geographic area Black girls and Black boys are continuously being overrepresented in disciplinary punishments. To end the over-representation of Black girls and Black boys in in-school and out-of-school suspensions, schools and policy makers must collaborate with communities of color, eliminate teacher implicit and explicit racial biases, and discontinue racially punitive school policies.


2020 ◽  
pp. 215686932091653
Author(s):  
Melissa Thompson ◽  
Lindsey Wilkinson ◽  
Hyeyoung Woo

Although originally considered to be a disorder of childhood, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is increasingly being diagnosed for the first time in adulthood. Yet we know little about the social characteristics (race, gender, and social class) of those first labeled in adulthood, how these differ from those first labeled in childhood/adolescence, and whether the ADHD label is applied proportionately across social groups given ADHD symptomology. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, the current research considers how typifications of ADHD affect application of the ADHD label in childhood/adolescence and in adulthood. Results indicate that even after controlling for ADHD symptoms, social characteristics are important predictors of the ADHD label in childhood/adolescence but are less influential in predicting ADHD labeling in adulthood. Additionally, results indicate the importance of race in moderating the association between childhood ADHD symptoms and application of the ADHD label throughout the life course.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 948-979
Author(s):  
Amy Adamczyk ◽  
Gary LaFree

Researchers have found consistently that religion reduces criminal behavior. Yet rising levels of political violence are frequently attributed to a new wave of religious terrorism. Our study seeks to reconcile this apparent discrepancy by studying the attitudes of people living in 34 African nations. Using data from the Afrobarometer survey and mixed modeling, we examine the influence of individual and collective religiosity for shaping civic engagement and willingness to engage in political violence. While individual religiosity decreases support for violent political action, collective religiosity increases it. The effects of religiosity are the same for Muslims and Christians and the country religious context minimally affects residents’ civic engagement and interest in violent political behavior. Our study underscores the importance of the theoretical and empirical distinction between individual and collective religiosity and offers insight into how civic engagement can be a pathway through which religion shapes support for political violence.


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