Abstract
Purpose: This study investigated the prevalence of middle school students with ADHD and the level of middle school teacher's knowledge, coping strategies, and educational intervention for ADHD. Methods: There were 185 teachers and 6,381 middle school students at the 6 middle schools in Pusan. The data was collected from December 20, 2003 to January 10, 2004. Results: 195 middle school students had ADHD (3.1%). The male students with ADHD made up 4.4% of the total students and the female students with ADHD totaled 1.3%. The mean score of middle school teacher's knowledge about ADHD was 21.86 of the score total 32. The teachers used a negative coping style less than an active and passive coping style. Of the educational interventions, the environmental intervention in the classroom was used more than the educational intervention activity. 61.1% of the teachers responded that they did not know very much about ADHD. 93.5% of the teachers had no educational experience with ADHD. 94.1% felt that they needed an education program about ADHD and over half of them intended to participate in an ADHD education program. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, we concluded that the middle school teachers felt that they had insufficient knowledge about ADHD. They wanted the opportunity to increase their knowledge of ADHD. Therefore, it is necessary for educational programs about ADHD for teachers to be developed and made available to them.