The Relations between ADHD Behaviours, Social and Communication Traits of Autism, Attachment Characteristics, Teacher Perception and Management of Student Behaviour and the Self-Concept in Adolescents

K Bodfield
2022
This doctoral thesis aimed to explore how dimensional, co-occurring models of ADHD behaviours, Autistic traits and attachment characteristics relate to the academic self-concept and general self-esteem and how teachers' interviews on their perception and management of ADHD behaviours, Autistic traits and attachment characteristics may illuminate the relation. To evaluate the relations between ADHD behaviours, Autistic traits, attachment characteristics and the academic self-concept and general
more » ... elf-esteem, a three-phase, mixed-methods study was conducted. In the first phase, the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale v.1.1 (ASRS; Kessler et al., 2005), the Autism Spectrum Quotient 10 (AQ-10; Allison et al., 2012) and the Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ; West et al., 1998) were revised and validated through cognitive interviewing and confirmatory factor analyses. Validation of the AAQ was based on a sample of 303 adolescents aged 12-16 collected from one school whereas validation of the AQ-10 and ASRS took place concurrently using a sample of 296 adolescents collected from three schools and four sixth-form colleges in the UK. These measures were then used in the second phase of the study. This used latent-interaction structural equation modelling to assess the relations between ADHD behaviours, Autistic traits, attachment characteristics and the academic self-concept and general self-esteem of 564 sixth-form students aged 16-19. The sample came from five sixth-form colleges in the UK. Finally, the third phase of the study used snowball sampling to generate a group of 12 UK secondary school teachers who were interviewed on their perception and management of behaviours, associated with ADHD, autism and attachment disorders. Data collected from the interviews were analysed using inductive, semantic thematic analysis. The subsequent thematic analysis of the teacher interviews suggests that teachers' responses to and management of these behaviours were informed by their experiences and educational guidance. Seven themes [...]
doi:10.24377/ljmu.t.00017391 fatcat:cyueasbuhvaala7iox7vowrwzm