Steffenson Birgitta, Et. Al.

The study conducted by Steffenson Birgitta, et al., (1999) defines attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as a significant public health problem that is one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders in child and adolescents. In the study, Steffenson Birgitta, et al., evaluated the influence of genetic factors on 1480 twin pairs, born in Sweden between April 1985 and April 1986, which make the twin pairs between the ages of eight and nine years old at the time of the study. The 1480 twin pairs were identified through the Swedish Twin Registry and the parents were contacted through a mailed questionnaire.
The parents were asked to provide both children’s medical background information and developmental milestones, and complete a questionnaire that contained 14 symptoms for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The symptoms were scored on a scale from 0 to 1, with 0 being not true and 1 being true. After the parents completed the questionnaire, the logarithms of the total scores were used.
The twin pairs were then divided into three groups based on the response their parents provided surrounding the twin’s relationship with each other. If the parents identified the twin pair as being similar, the twins were placed in the monozygotic group, but if the parents identified the twin pair as being different, the twins were placed in the dizygotic
The result’s also implied that maturity can be an important factor and is correlated to genetic influences. The study proved that the genetics also influence behavioral patterns, resulting in the increase likelihood of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Overall demonstrating and supporting that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is highly influenced by