ADHD and Substance Ab(use) - Research Paper Example

? ADHD and Substance Use Research Design April 26, There is correlation between ADHD and substance use in individuals. According to thestudies by Claudia et al. (2006), over 50% of the children with ADHD will have substance and drug use problem when they grow up. They indicate that the substance use amongst some individuals in the society have their roots in childhood. In one of the studies, it is indicated that the unaddressed psychological issues cause over 6% of the juvenile delinquency in childhood (Barkley 2003). ADHD is one of the psychological disorders that have been blamed for the substance use in adulthood. In one of the Longitudinal, studies by Frodl (2010) about 50% of the adults with substance use disorder can trace such problem in childhood. Several other scientific studies conducted have also reflected similar results. However, it is imperative to note that there are other factors that would contribute to the same substance use disorder. It would therefore be vital for the researchers to approach this issue from a wider perspective in order to make the study more objective. Generalization of this issue may make it difficult to address it in the best way possible. Substance use has cost most countries such as the United States billions of dollars (Maryam et al. 2012). Due to these social and economic costs, it is vital to address this psychological problem in adulthood (Arnsten 2006). 1. Specific Aims The main aim of the study is to establish the correlation between ADHD and substance use. This is bearing in mind that other several conducted studies have found the relationship between the two. Secondly, the study seeks to find out whether there are other factors that may contribute to the same substance-use disorder. This is for the purpose of avoiding generalization of this issue. Factors such as genetic composition and environment that may contribute to the same problem. Specific aim 1: To determine whether there exists a relationship between ADHD and substance use Specific aim 2: To determine relationship between ADHD, environment, and substance abuse 2. Background and significance Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a psychological disorder that is common in childhood (Michael et al. 2011). It is characterized by lack of attention, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness (Timothy 2011). The children suffering from this psychological problem have trouble in their studies. According to various past studies, most of these children perform poorly in their studies. This is owing to the fact that they are unable to be attentive in the classroom. However, recent studies have revealed more problems attributed to this psychological disorder. In some of those studies, it is indicated that there is a correlation between ADHD and substance abuse disorders. Such studies indicate that about 50% of the adults who had history of ADHD in their childhood are likely to have substance use problems. On the other hand, such individuals are also likely to experience other behavioral problems in future. In one study carried out by Timothy (2011), ADHD is reported in between 5% to 10% of the children who are born. It is therefore considered to be a psychological disorder that needs much attention. These sentiments were echoed by the results of another study by Claudia (2007). According to this researcher, there is a correlation between ADHD and substance use. He indicated that about 50% of the adults were experienced ADHD in their childhood were in danger of substance use. However, other researchers such as Frodl (2010) and Michael (2011) indicated that it is necessary to focus on these issues from a wider perspective. According to them, factors such as the environment and genetic traits may also explain why some people may have higher affinity for substance use than others may. In the past, many medical practitioners did not know that actually this psychological problem would lead to substance abuse disorders. They attributed it majorly to genetic and environmental factors. This study is therefore imperative in the sense that it seeks to establish the relationship between the issues. It seeks to establish the fact that some of the substance and drug use problems is actually found in people who experienced ADHD in their childhood. However, this study also works under the assumption that there would be other factors, which would cause the same problem. The method used in this study is scientific. Data will be collected through the use of interviews and questionnaires. On the other hand, being a qualitative research, only qualitative analysis method will be used. 3. Material and methods In this study, the independent factor will be individuals with a history of ADHD have a high rate of substance use compared to others. Population and sample The population size will be 30 teenagers. Under this, half will represent the males and the rest female. The rationale behind this choice is the fact that the smaller the sample the more consistency and objective the results become. The inclusion criteria for study will be any teenager between ages of 14-19. They must have had the history of ADHD during their childhood. Any teenager who does not fall under this bracket will be excluded from the study. Sampling technique In this study, random, snowballing, and convenient sampling methods will be used. In the former category, subjects are selected indiscriminately from the population. That is, if there is a group of individuals with substance use disorder, subjects of study will be selected randomly. This method is imperative in the sense that it provides every member have an equal opportunity to take part in the study. This method was selected due to its simplicity and quality data collected. It is easier to use and consumes little time. On the other hand, the snowballing technique is imperative especially where it is difficult to obtain the subjects of study. In this study for instance, there is an assumption that finding the subjects will be a bit difficult. For that reason, it will be vital for the researcher to approach an already known subject who will later guide the researcher to a potential other. This method is advantageous in the sense that only the targeted subjects are interviewed. It may however take more time since one has to move from one place to another. Finally, the researcher also seeks to use the convenient sampling method to obtain a sample. This is one of the simplest methods owing to the fact that the researcher will obtain information at any place and time provided the subjects are available. All the three sampling techniques are imperative to compare the data collected. There is need to ensure objectivity in the collected data. Data collection methods Data will be collected with questionnaires and interviewing. In the former category, the researcher seeks to have questions which the respondents will be expected to respond with a “yes’ or ‘no’ answers. Questionnaires are preferred owing to the fact that they are simple to use and ability to collect specific data. However, this method limits the respondents in the sense that they will only respond to the stated items on the questionnaire. On the other hand, however, interviewing is more advantageous especially when conducting a qualitative study such as this. Interview schedules will be used to obtain information form targeted population. This method is vital in the sense that it is used to obtain more data. It may however take a lot of time and resources. In this study, mixed questionnaire will be used. It will have both the open ended and closed questions. The main variables will include the age, history of ADHD and substance use. Data analysis This is the method through which the collected data is processed and presented in a way that can be consumed by the intended audience. Qualitative analysis will be used in this study, owing to the fact that it will also measure subjective factors in individuals. These factors cannot be quantified. Statistics from the conducted study The main aim of carrying out the study was to establish whether there is a correlation between ADHD and substance use. About 75% of the interviewed teenagers had a history of ADHD in their childhood. This information was obtained from their parents who were willing to share. Out of these, 50% of them were frequent users of alcohol and other substances. Out of the 50%, about 20% of them were struggling with substance use, and most of them (15%) had already been taken for rehabilitation. 30% of the remaining subjects used substances occasionally. This is either during festivities or when celebrating certain achievement. Eventually, it was found that only 20% of them had no problems of substance use. This therefore demonstrated that the environment also played an important role in shaping the behavior of such individuals. The type of test preferred for this study will be Chi-squire, to compare the collected data and what the expectation of the researcher. 4. Prediction The main prediction is that there is a correlation between ADHD and substance abuse. This is firstly supported by the fact that most of the scientific studies carried out indicate the same thing. For instance, about 6% of the juveniles with substance use problems are said to have suffered from ADHD. It is estimated that similar sentiments shall be replicated in this study owing to the fact that the earlier researchers conducted such studies using scientific methods. On the other hand, though, this study shall also seek to focus on this issue from a broader perspective. For instance, while many previous studies have given the correlation between the two problems, it is also imperative to note that other factors could also play a role. For instance, drug abuse could be caused by influence depending on the environment that an individual is exposed. Therefore, not all drug and substance use problems can be attributed to ADHD. For that purpose therefore, this study will also seek to establish whether other forces could have been at play before making any conclusion. However, the results are predicted that they will not divert so much from what other researchers have been able to find in the past. 5. Limitation and pitfalls Time limit and resources were some of the main challenges in this study. To fully understand the relationship between Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), a longitudinal study is required. Most of the studies that indicate the relationship between the two have been conducted through this method. However, with the limited period of time and funds, the researcher relied heavily on the medical history of the subjects. Secondly, some of the subjects were not willing to provide information. This is mostly because of the sensitivity of the issue. In some instances, getting medical history of some subjects was a problem. They did not want to share such information, most likely because of fear of being victimized. Thirdly, this is a complicated psychological problem and therefore may be caused by other factors. For instance, a researcher may attribute the current drugs and substance problem in an individual to ADHD present in childhood (Timothy 2010). However, this may not be the case owing to the fact that genetic composition and the environment into which one is exposed also cause the same problem. Due to the financial limitation, the researcher could only do a study in a population within his location. It would be difficult to travel from one place to another for the purpose of comparison. There is therefore a possibility that the results may not reflect the true nature in other cultures. 6. Impact of the study With the increased cases of drug and substance abuse within the population, it would be imperative to get to the roots. For instance, the report by the CDC released in 2011 indicated that the United States spent more than $224 billion to deal with complication because of drinking. Children as early as 13 years of age are said to be involved in binge drinking. This problem is likely to perpetuate unless it is dealt with. It has both social and economic implications. However, there is a major challenge bearing in mind that it is difficult to get to the root of cause of such problems. This study is therefore imperative owing to the fact that it focuses on the real issues that are affecting the society. Majority of people do not know that there is a correlation between drug and substance abuse and ADHD. This study will target the medical practitioners who will see the need to treat such individuals early in advance. As indicated before, about 50% of the children diagnosed with ADHD are likely to use drugs in future. When this information is provided, it will prompt the parents with such children to seek medical or psychological intervention early in advance. It will also enable the government to invest more in the healthcare service to address this problem while the children are still young. This is for the purpose of reducing the increased cost of dealing with this problem when such individuals become old. This study will therefore seek to benefit the health practitioners, parents and the government. References Arnsten, A. F. (2006). Fundamentals of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder: Circuits and pathways. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67 (Suppl. 8), 7-12. Barkley, R. A., Fischer, M., Smallish, L., & Fletcher, K. (2003).Does the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with stimulants contribute to drug use/abuse? A 13-year prospective study. Pediatrics, 111, 97-109. Claudia M. Szobot (2007) is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder associated with illicit substance use disorders in male adolescents. A community-based case–control study Maryam Kousha, Zahra Shahrivar, and Javad Alaghband-rad (2012) Substance Use Disorder and ADHD: Is ADHD a Particularly “Specific “Risk Factor? Michael Lynskey & Wayne hall Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and substance Use disorders: is there a causal link? Frodl T. (2010) Comorbidity of ADHD and Substance Use Disorder (SUD): A Neuroimaging Perspective Timothy E. Wilens (2010) a Sobering Fact: ADHD Leads to Substance Abuse Timothy E. (2011) Does ADHD Predict Substance-Use Disorders. A 10-Year Follow-up Study of Young Adults with ADHD Read More