A comparison study of preschool children diagnosed as hyperactive

A group of 20 preschool children diagnosed as hyperactive was compared with a group of nonhyperactive children closely matched on demographic and family factors. Multivariate analyses indicated that the groups differed on an activity factor obtained from both rating and observational mea-sures and in terms of "manageability, "a factor which included a number of temperamental variables. Profile analyses indicated significant differences between the groups and interactions between groups and variables. Pre-school and parent teacher ratings suggested overall greater behavior dis-turbance in the hyperactive group. Although the two groups clearly were different, our interpretation of the sources of these differences supported the desirability of focusing on the mother-child interaction in treatment rather than following the medical model of seeing the hyperactive child as "ill." The considerable amount of published literature on that disorder known as "hyperactivity " has included surprisingly little on very young children who have been given the diagnosis early in life. This is despite the fact that in some cases the diagnosis is being made very early in development, with treatment regimens including drugs and diet being prescribed (e.g., Cook & Woodhill, 1976; Werry, 1978). Given the well-documented difficulties in diagnosis and classification of hyperactivity (Lambert, Sandoval, &amp