González Tejera Gloria, González Mari, Ramírez Beatriz, Rivera Maralexis
Department of Psychiatry, UPR School of Medicine, San Juan, PR.
Bol Asoc Med P R. 2009 Jan-Mar;101(1):31-5.
The purpose of this study was to explore the level of knowledge that a group of Puerto Rican teachers have about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the most common psychiatric disorder in school age children.
the design was descriptive experimental. One hundred thirty two school teachers of five different schools (public and private) from the metropolitan area of San Juan participated in the study. Questionnaires administered included demographic data of participants; 29 true or false questions, (obtained from the DSM-IV TR diagnostic criteria of ADHD and other behavioral disorders); and five 'vignettes' of children with common behavioral problems observed in the classroom. Logistic regression was used in the analysis of data.
Thirty five per cent of the teachers reported to have had previous knowledge about ADHD. Seventy two per cent (72) reported a low level of knowledge about the disorder as reflected on the true/false section, while 60% were able to identify two out of three vignettes of children with characteristics of ADHD. No statistically significant correlation was found between teachers' level of knowledge and other variables studied (age, gender, college where obtained the degree, years of experience, the level they teach or previous training obtained about ADHD).
The findings evidence the limited information and confusion that teachers have about ADHD. A thorough revision of the curricular content of teachers in training is recommended so that they become knowledgeable about the common behavioral problems that commonly affect children. Teachers' observations are important sources of information for child psychiatrists in the process of evaluation and diagnosing children with ADHD. Therefore, is critical that teachers in the public and private sectors become aware of these characteristics so they are able to identify these children as early as possible.
本研究旨在探究一群波多黎各教师对注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）的了解程度，ADHD是学龄儿童中最常见的精神疾病。
采用描述性实验设计。来自圣胡安都会区五所不同学校（公立和私立）的132名学校教师参与了该研究。所发放的问卷包括参与者的人口统计学数据；29道是非题（取自ADHD及其他行为障碍的《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第四版修订版诊断标准）；以及五个关于课堂上常见行为问题儿童的“案例”。数据分析采用逻辑回归。
35%的教师报告称之前了解过ADHD。72%（72人）在是非题部分显示出对该疾病的了解程度较低，而60%的教师能够从三个具有ADHD特征的儿童案例中识别出两个。未发现教师的知识水平与所研究的其他变量（年龄、性别、获得学位的院校、教学经验年限、所教授的年级或之前接受的关于ADHD的培训）之间存在统计学上的显著相关性。
研究结果证明了教师对ADHD的信息有限且存在困惑。建议对教师培训的课程内容进行全面修订，以便他们了解通常影响儿童的常见行为问题。教师的观察是儿童精神科医生在评估和诊断患有ADHD的儿童过程中的重要信息来源。因此，公私部门的教师了解这些特征至关重要，这样他们才能尽早识别出这些儿童。
