Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - a systematic review

Abstract

Background and Aims: ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders, with a prevalence rate of approximately 5-7% (Balázs, 2022), and teachers working in public education are likely to meet or work daily with students who, among others, show behavioural symptoms of ADHD.

The focus of this paper is to analyse studies in English that examine teachers' attitudes and knowledge about ADHD and the factors that might be associated with them.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in August 2024 in the EBSCO Academic Search Complete database. Of the 49 studies found, 18 articles were analysed after meeting the eligibility criteria.

Results: Several studies have shown that teachers experience teaching students with ADHD as a significant stress, but as their knowledge of ADHD increases and their misconceptions decrease, their attitudes may change in a positive direction, making them more willing to use evidence-based behaviour support strategies in the classroom.

Conclusions: Although we can only draw cautious conclusions from the review, it is clear that there is a great need to assess the attitudes and knowledge of teachers in Hungary about children with ADHD, although there is no reliable and valid measurement tool available to measure it.