Parents can learn about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by watching the behaviour of Bart Simpson, a psychology conference is to be told next week.
A study into the psyche of America's popular animated and dysfunctional family, the Simpsons, has concluded that Bart (10) has ADHD, the annual conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland in Co Clare will be told. The study's authors say the diagnosis could be beneficial to parents watching the Simpsons.
Mr Kevin Murphy, a final year psychology student at the American College Dublin, says this is because watching Bart Simpson would make parents more aware of the symptoms of ADHD.
This is important, he says, because early diagnosis leads to better outcome and if they know what symptoms to look out for they would be more likely to seek help early. His research supervisor Mr Paul Gaffney, a clinical psychologist with the North Eastern Health Board, confirmed Mr Murphy had completed a range of tests on Bart which would normally be conducted on humans with ADHD.
Mr Gaffney said about half the referrals he now receives are of children who are thought to have ADHD but following assessment, only two fifths actually have the condition, which can be successfully treated. The rise in referrals was at the same time as increased amounts of violence on TV, he said, but suggested this was likely to be coincidental. "Kids are regularly thrown this tag of ADHD . . . it's more convenient to say the child has ADHD than accept the child is missing his or her parents who are out working all day," he added.