Gonzalez 1

Gonzalez, Angelo Juan T. ENG 10 THR1 November 12, 2015

Broadcast Communication 2015-05703

Common Conceptions of UP Diliman Students on Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder

Position Paper

To determine the common conceptions of UP Diliman students on ADHD a group of 20

students answered a true-or-false type questionnaire designed to determine the respondents

knowledge of ADHD. After the questionnaires were collected, the researcher then determined the

scores of the respondents, the generally agreed upon items and the frequency of errors in each

item.

Distribution of the Respondent's Scores in Percentage

19-20
5% 5%
10% 17-18
25% 15-16
13-14
12 and bellow

55%

Figure 1: Distribution of Respondents scores

Figure 1 represents the distribution of scores of selected UP Diliman students after they

answered the questionnaire given. The results are promising, the data shows that more than half
 Gonzalez 2

of the students scored atleast 15/20 (75%)well above the passing rate of 60%. The most

surprising observation is that only 5% of the respondents, that is 1 out of 20, got a score lower

than 12, which is the passing score. In summation, the majority of the respondents passed the

questionnaire given that the passing score is atleast 12, this shows that the respondents do have a

general knowledge of ADHD.

ADHD Facts that Respondents See as True

20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

No. of Respondents

Facts regarding ADHD

Figure

2: ADHD Facts that Respondents See as True

This graph depicts the facts about ADHD that UP Diliman students generally agree on,

meaning atleast 75% of the respondents must have the same answer. The graph shows that all

students agreed that ADHD is a real medical disorder and that intervention and medication can

help people with ADHD. The graphs also shows that generally the students are able to

distinguish ADHD from other disorders. For example, only 2-3 out of 20 students disagree with
 Gonzalez 3

the 7th and 8th fact. The two facts shown are both related to each other regarding the relationship

of ADD and ADHD; while ADD is similar to ADHD, it lacks the hyperkinetic characteristic of

ADHD. In addition, only 95% of the respondents do not believe that intellectual disability and/or

autism is the same as ADHD. To summarize, the students of UP Diliman recognize that ADHD is

a real disorder and are able to distinguish it from different disorders.

Frequency of Erroneous Responses on ADHD Knowledge

12
10
8
6
4
2
0

No. of erronerous responses

True or False statement

Figure 3: Frequency of Erroneous Responses on ADHD Knowledge

The figure illustrates the frequency of erroneous responses on ADHD knowledge of

select UP Diliman students. The data reveals that the 3 most frequent items that UP Diliman

students get wrong are ability to focus, medication and intervention as a cure and everyone with

ADHD is hyper. One of the observations shows that while all the respondents agree that

medication and intervention can help a person with ADHD(refer to Figure 2), the respondents

are divided whether or not medication and intervention can be a cure to ADHD. This is supported

by how 55% of the respondents correctly agreed that ADHD is a permanent condition, which
 Gonzalez 4

means that there is no cure for the disorder. There were two questions regarding the a persons

ability to hyperfocus, both recieved the same number of errors from the same respondents. All of

this show that there is still a gap of knowledge regarding ADHD, even with 95% of the students

recieving a score above the passing rate of 60%.

As a whole, the students of UP Diliman are knowledgeable of ADHD. This lead them to

correct conceptions of the disorder which include recognition of ADHD as a real disorder, that

medication and intervention can help a person with ADHD, and that ADHD is not synonymous

to intellectual disability/autism/ADD/etc.

The recognition of ADHD as a real disorder among UP Diliman students is not surprising

as 12 of the respondents have indicated that they know someone who has ADHD. However, the

acceptance of intervention and medication as help for someone with ADHD is in contrast to a

study done by Dorseis, Ellwood, Mitchell, Safer, Soeken and Zito which states that 38% of the

general consensus believe that the medication is over-prescribed. The same study also states that

a non-pharmacological or combination (pharmacological and non-pharmacological) therapies

are more acceptable to parents. The respondents are divided when it came to the use of

intervention and medication as a cure. Nearly half the respondents believe that ADHD is curable,

this gave them the incorrect notion that intervention and medication will cure ADHD. In reality,

experts generally recognize that medication and intervention can only aid a person with ADHD

but can not completely remove the symptoms.

60% of the respondents believe that a person with ADHD does not have the ability to

focus properly. However, people with ADHD do have the ability to focus and even hyperfocus.

Dr. Ari Tuckman observed that people with ADHD, when given the right activity, becomes
 Gonzalez 5

laser-focused on that one activity. This idea may go against the name of the disorder itself, but

this is because the attention deficiency in ADHD is rooted to the persons selective focus. Once

the person with ADHD is focused on a subject, Dr Tuckman describes their focus as unbroken

attention.

Further studies, should note that not all facts were covered in this research. The KADD-Q

was used a basis for the survey and is generally used to determine the knowledge of a subject

regarding ADHD. The studies should also include a wide variety of respondents, as the

respondents in this study were predominantly freshman and from College of Mass

Communication. Further research are recommended to also include a section regarding the

attitudes of the respondents towards ADHD as this may uncover prejudice among the

respondents. Through these recommendations more accurate and informative results may be

produced.