Diagnosis or Social Construct?   Perspectives of Parents, Teachers,   and School Psychologists on Students with ADHD   in Bihor County, Romania

Drugas, Ioana Florica

Diagnosis or Social Construct? Perspectives of Parents, Teachers, and School Psychologists on Students with ADHD in Bihor County, Romania

dc.contributor.advisor	Hatos, Adrian
dc.contributor.author	Drugas, Ioana Florica
dc.contributor.department	Humán tudományok doktori iskola	hu
dc.contributor.submitterdep	Bölcsészettudományi Kar::Nevelés- és Művelődéstudományi Intézet
dc.date.accessioned	2025-11-13T09:53:24Z
dc.date.available	2025-11-13T09:53:24Z
dc.date.defended	2025-11-28
dc.date.issued	2025
dc.description.abstract	act Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly identified childhood disorders worldwide, yet it remains a subject of intense debate. While the dominant clinical model defines ADHD as a neurobiological disorder characterized by persistent patterns of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity (American Psychiatric Association, 2022), an alternative sociological perspective questions its validity as a purely medical condition. Scholars such as Hacking (2000), Timimi (2015), and Jutel (2009) argue that ADHD may function more accurately as a social construct, influenced by institutional expectations, cultural norms, and stakeholder perceptions rather than objective biological criteria. This dissertation explores these divergent viewpoints through an empirical investigation of parents, teachers, and school psychologists’ perspectives on students with ADHD and the diagnosis practices in Bihor County, Romania. The research is grounded in a social constructivist framework (Wedge, 2015) and employs ethnomethodology (Macbeth, 2010) as its primary methodological approach. Drawing from medical records and stakeholder` questionnaires, this study examines how ADHD is defined, interpreted, and operationalized in Romanian educational and medical settings. The dissertation aims to reveal how diagnostic practices reflect broader social dynamics, including institutional pressures, pharmaceutical influences, and subjective interpretations of student behavior. The study responds to a significant gap in Romanian ADHD research. Despite the growing global and national prevalence—rising from 6.77% in 2010 to 8.8% in 2013 (Dobrescu, 2010; Rad et al., 2017)—systematic analyses of ADHD diagnosis in Romania remain sparse. A review of international academic databases uncovered very limited literature on ADHD in Romania, highlighting the need for localized, evidence-based research. The diagnostic process in Romanian schools is often inconsistent, relying heavily on subjective evaluations by teachers and parents, rather than standardized neuropsychological assessments (Iancu, 2007; Drugaș, 2015). The research is divided into three interrelated studies. The first study investigates the profile of 196 students diagnosed with ADHD in Bihor County, focusing on demographic trends and potential disproportionalities related to gender, symptom type, and socio-economic context. Preliminary results show a significant overrepresentation of boys and the predominance of hyperactivity and aggression in reported symptoms, aligning with international patterns (Reeves, 2022; Rucklidge, 2008). The second study analyzes the clinical criteria and terminology used by psychiatrists in diagnosing ADHD. Through semantic network analysis of medical files, the research identifies the most frequently cited symptoms and diagnostic patterns. Findings reveal inconsistencies in the application of diagnostic standards and a reliance on subjective descriptors shaped by parent and teacher reports, rather than neurobiological evidence. The third study explores the perceptions of teachers, parents, and psychologists—key stakeholders in the referral and diagnostic process. The study finds that teachers often interpret behavioral challenges, such as impulsivity or defiance, as medical symptoms, potentially leading to misdiagnosis. Teachers’ limited training and prevalent misconceptions contribute to labeling normal behavioral variance as pathological. Moreover, many educators prefer to exclude students with ADHD from mainstream classrooms rather than adapt instructional methods (Drugaș, 2015; Gherguț, 2020), further reinforcing exclusionary practices. Overall, the research highlights multiple disproportionalities in ADHD diagnosis— across gender, geography, and professional domains—supporting the argument that ADHD in Bihor County, Romania is shaped as much by social representations as by clinical realities. The study confirms international concerns regarding the influence of pharmaceutical marketing (Timimi & Timimi, 2015; Wedge, 2015), the variability of diagnosis across cultural contexts (Graham, 2010), and the problematic medicalization of behavioral traits that may reflect environmental or pedagogical misalignment rather than pathology. By bridging medical, sociological, and educational perspectives, this dissertation contributes to a more nuanced understanding of ADHD as a diagnostic category. It emphasizes the importance of context and stakeholders in interpreting behavioral symptoms and calls for a more balanced, interdisciplinary approach to ADHD diagnosis in Romania. The findings urge policymakers, educators, and clinicians to develop equitable, evidence-based interventions that account for both clinical symptoms and the socio-cultural environments in which they are expressed.
dc.format.extent	204
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/2437/398704
dc.language.iso	en
dc.subject	ADHD, oktatás, érdekelt felek felfogása, társadalmi párbeszéd, diagnózis, Románia, társadalmi aránytalanság, medikalizáció, gyógyszeripari befolyás
dc.subject	ADHD, education, stakeholder perceptions, social constructivism, diagnosis, Romania, disproportionality, medicalization, pharmaceutical influence
dc.subject.discipline	Neveléstudományok
dc.subject.sciencefield	Bölcsészettudományok
dc.title	Diagnosis or Social Construct? Perspectives of Parents, Teachers, and School Psychologists on Students with ADHD in Bihor County, Romania
dc.title.translated	Diagnózis vagy társadalmi konstrukció? Szülők, tanárok és iskolai pszichológusok véleménye az ADHD-s diákokról Bihar megyében, Romániában
dc.type	PhD, doktori értekezés	hu