Mental disorders among children are becoming more common and severe with every year. Such a negative tendency may be explained by multiple factors, including the influence of social media on the hypersensitivity of the current generation. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a pervasive disease among modern children characterized by the lack of attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
This disorder has many nuances and individual manifestations that are sometimes hard to manage; for that reason, the article about this disease was chosen as a foundation for the assignment. The paper will identify the main objectives of the report, its critique based on a number of factors, and its application to the personal field of work.
The Main Research Question of the Article and Overall Main Research
Findings
The article by Ottoman et al. Sex Differences in Comorbidity Patterns of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder primarily investigates how sex and gender differences of children with ADHD and a variety of comorbid disorders affect the nature and behavioral patterns of the disease. The researchers found that individuals with ADHD and additional mental disorders are shown to have lower social outcomes than adolescents with only ADHD (Ottosen et al., 2019).
Therefore, the scholars decided to determine the primary triggers and reasons for such symptomatic activity to further develop strategies of managing and possibly treating such behavior.
The researches mainly aimed at retrieving the lacking information about sex deference in people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and comorbid diseases, as little information was available. Therefore, to widen and clarify this issue, the scholars planned to develop a broad, coherent study using the data from competent medical centers investigating the way these mental infirmities influence different sexes and create an individual course of the disease.
As a result of the research, multiple findings were extracted from the various resources and tests involving children with ADHD and comorbid disorders. One of the discoveries stated that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have a high risk of further development of a dozen of supplementary illnesses (Ottosen et al., 2019).
Moreover, the researchers discovered that female individuals are more likely to develop autism spectrum disorder, oppositional defiant/conduct disorder, schizophrenia, and substance use disorders than the males (Ottosen et al., 2019). No significant difference between male and female tendencies was discovered when it came to all the other mental disorders.
Critique of the Selected Article
The article presents a powerful investigation on a narrow topic that previously lacked evidence and background information; hence, the researchers had to conduct significant analysis to demonstrate precise results. One of the strongest sides of this scientific piece is a big database and sampling that was used. For the research, scholars analyzed the data from over 1,5 million child records born in Denmark from 1989 to 2013 to extract the definite outcomes. They also traced back the first case of ADHD in Denmark and examined further cases and their distinctive features.
The additional methodology also reflects the recognition of the details as it consists of many factors and specific peculiarities. The researchers developed a comprehensive timeline for the individuals before the diagnosis and as a post-factum of acquiring it. Such follow-ups allowed the scholars to better define the progression of the disease and chronological frames of subsequent illness acquirements, which majorly contributed to the accuracy of the study’s outcomes.
The article authors had severe limitations that left them with little previous information on these or related topics. Most of the reviews on sex differences among people with ADHD and comorbid diseases were done with samples of older people; however, children were not previously mentioned. Some studies used in the article contribute essential information to the research; thus, as stated by the scholars, mostly underpower the role of sex differences mainly due to small sampling (Ottosen et al., 2019). Nevertheless, such a challenge did not stop the researchers from proceeding to work on the study, subsequently retrieving vital for the healthcare data.
Moreover, the country from which the medical records were retrieved has much lower ADHD records among children. Comparing to the United States, Denmark has fewer children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; therefore, it is harder to extract individual statistics. Nevertheless, the investigators are convinced that the confirmed cases in Denmark are more valid and unbiased than in the countries with higher diagnosis rates (Ottosen et al., 2019). The study is a crucial contributor to further psychological studies.
The investigation findings can become a foundation for the subsequent research that was not particularly possible without the discovered information. The scholars have made an immense impact on the ADHD study by conducting a comprehensive analysis of this disease. Hence, future investigations are now able to further analyze the influence of sex differences on ADHD with comorbid illnesses, which would significantly affect the psychiatric industry.
As for the medical practice, this particular article outlines numerous details that healthcare workers must now pay more regard to. One of them is the discovery that female individuals are more predisposed to developing comorbid mental diseases if they were previously diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Ottosen et al., 2019). Such finding warns the medical providers to make more thorough follow-ups among women and check with them a little more frequently to timely identify the possible development of concomitant diseases.
How the Article Relates to my Place of Employment
As of this moment, I am employed by the department of probation, where working as a juvenile probation officer, which is quite a responsible job. The primary responsibilities include supervising youth who have been assigned probation or parole sentences. Adolescent probation managers work with adolescents and their families to continually ensure obedience with the court’s terms and regulations, simultaneously providing counseling to them with the purpose of altering their behavioral patterns. Being a juvenile probation officer is like being a lifeline for these children, where you have the possibility to alter their behavior of not making the same mistakes again.
It is essential for this career to be aware of possible mental health issues and multiple strategies for incorporating my knowledge into counseling practices. Learning about children with ADHD and comorbid diseases will help become more precise in this practice. Moreover, reading about how sex differences affect adolescents’ course of the disease is crucial because, at times, it might explain a specific behavior or unusual activity not typical to them previously.
In addition, as my field of employment involves psychological practices of counseling juvenile offenders, any new information on such practices will increase the effectiveness in this field. Reading this article indeed improves the knowledge of the topic and contributes to professional and personal development.
ADHD is an increasingly diagnosed disease among children; therefore, for an employee, who continually works with adolescents, it is vital to know the outstanding features of the most prevalent conditions and specific methodology of working with them. Such research findings certainly contribute to the expert growth as the juvenile probation officer, broadening the knowledge of ADHD awareness, and inspires to develop a new methodology of working with juvenile offenders.
Reference
Ottosen, C., Larsen, J. T., Faraone, S. V., Chen, Q., Hartman, C., Larsson, H., Petersen, L., & Dalsgaard, S. (2019). Sex Differences in Comorbidity Patterns of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(4), 412-422.e3. Web.‌