Nature vs. Nurture ADHD as an Example

Nature vs. Nurture

ADHD as an Example of Nature vs. Nurture

There are several schools of thought that address the way in which human beings develop their personality and behavioral traits. Some psychologists believe that traits tend to be innate, written into the individual's genetic code and thus inborn and largely predicted from conception (Gonzales-Mena, 2009). On the other hand, other psychologists believe that while individuals have genetic traits that may predispose them toward certain conditions and behaviors, the demonstration of those traits is the result of the way in which they were raised, and the way in which they interacted with the world at a young age (Gonzales-Mena, 2009). Both theories are based in observational and clinical data, and both seem to have equal support in the scientific community (Lippa, 2002). It seems likely that neither nature nor nurture are, in and of themselves, responsible for human behavior. Rather, a mixture of the two aspects, both how a person was raised, and the way in which their genes programed them, contribute to creating a whole individual.

The nature vs. nurture controversy can be studied best by applying it to a specific situation or condition that could be influenced either by genetics or by environment. Gatzke-Kopp & Beauchaine (2007) and Nigg (2006) both did research on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, studying whether the disorder was the product of nature, or nurture. It provides an excellent example for studying the debate, because the disorder shows traits that could easily be the result of either genetic predisposition or societal and familial methods of child rearing, in that the disorder shows traits that are applicable to both. In using different methods to study the same disorder, one is able to create a more full picture of the disorder, because the more different approaches taken to addressing an issue, the more likely one is to understand the way in which the different factors contributing to it interplay with one another (Lippa, 2002).

First, it seems easy to argue that ADHD is a genetic disorder. It is found primarily in boys, implying it is at least some what sex linked. Children with ADHD behave the same way in all facets of their lives, expressing hyperactivity and inability to concentrate in a variety of settings. This indicates that it is not simply the home environment, or the school environment, or one specific place where the child is being influenced that causes the behaviors. This seems to indicate that the child's nurturing environment does not directly influence immediate behavior, though it does not address the idea that early-childhood child rearing behaviors may have caused the disorder (Nigg, 2006). In addition, there are measurable differences in the brains of children with ADHD. Structural differences lead one to believe that genetics play a large part in the disorder, given that the genes tell the body how to build itself and the genes have created a brain that differs from the neurotypical one. Finally, drugs that act a stimulants in most people act as calming agents in individuals with ADHD (Gatzke-Kopp & Beauchaine, 2007). Again, because there is a material effect on the body by outside chemicals, it seems likely that the disorder is genetic, thus a part of the child's inherent nature. It seems obvious, then, that ADHD is the product of nature and not nurture.

However this is not the case. There are other aspects of the disorder that clearly imply it is the produce of nurture. First, it is possible to "outgrow" ADHD (Nigg, 2006). Many people diagnosed with it as children no longer suffer from the disorder as adults, and no longer require medication. This implies that something in the child's environment caused or encouraged the behaviors of ADHD to surface. Second, there is a strong correlation between a variety of elements of a child's environment and the occurrence rate of ADHD (Bateman, Warner, Hutchinson, Dean, Rowlandson, Gant, 2004). These include stimulation the child receives such as the amount of television he or she watches, the amount of video games he or she plays, and the methods in which he or she is taught at school, all factors related o nurture, and not to nature. In addition, factors including prescription drug use by the child and prenatal stress to the mother are correlated with ADHD occurrences (Bateman, et al. 2004). Neither of these factors directly effect the child's genome, thus are part of the nurture side of the equation. However they have powerful impact on how the child develops and whether or not they develop the disorder.