Research

How do ADHD children perceive their cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of anger expression in school setting?

Ahmad Ghanizadeh¹ and Habib Bagherpour Haghighi²

¹  Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Hafez Hospital, Shiraz, Iran

²  Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

author email corresponding author email

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2010, 4:4doi:10.1186/1753-2000-4-4

Published:	25 January 2010

Abstract

Background

Anger is an ignored research area in children and young adolescents with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the school setting. This study compares school anger dimensions in children and young adolescents with ADHD and a control group.

Methods

The subjects were a clinical sample of 67 children and young adolescents with ADHD and their parents, with a sample of 91 children from the community of similar age and gender as control group. Anger was measured by the Farsi version of the Multidimensional School Anger Inventory (MSAI).

Results

The scores of the two components of "Hostile Outlook" and "Positive Coping" were different between the groups. The mean scores for the Anger components did not statistically differ between the children with ADHD and ODD and ADHD without ODD, boys and girls, or different types of ADHD.

Conclusion

Children with ADHD do not report higher rates of experience of anger and they do not apply destructive strategies more than the control group. However, children with ADHD appear to have a more hostile outlook toward school and their coping strategy is weaker than that of the control group.