what does it mean to be mixed handed
Findings may help teachers and health professionals to identify children at risk of developing certain problems<em> - News Release</em>
Imperial Higher London news release
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00.01 ET/ 05.01 GMT
Monday 25 Jan 2010
Children who are mixed-handed, or ambidextrous, are more likely to have mental health, language and scholastic problems in babyhood than right- or left-handed children, according to a new report published today in the journal Pediatrics.
The researchers behind the report, from Royal College London and other European institutions, suggest that their findings may help teachers and health professionals to identify children who are peculiarly at risk of developing certain problems.
Around one in every 100 people is mixed-handed. The study looked at most 8,000 children, 87 of whom were mixed-handed, and found that mixed-handed 7 and 8-year old children were twice as likely as their correct-handed peers to have difficulties with language and to perform poorly in school.
When they reached 15 or sixteen, mixed-handed adolescents were also at twice the take a chance of having symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They were too likely to have more astringent symptoms of ADHD than their right-handed counterparts. It is estimated that ADHD affects betwixt 3 to 9% of school-aged children and young people.
The adolescents too reported having greater difficulties with linguistic communication than those who were left- or right-handed. This is in line with earlier studies that have linked mixed-handedness with dyslexia.
Lilliputian is known nearly what makes people mixed-handed but it is known that handedness is linked to the hemispheres in the brain. Previous research has shown that where a person'due south natural preference is for using their right hand, the left hemisphere of their brain is more dominant.
The researchers stress that well-nigh of the mixed-handed children they studied did non experience issues
Some researchers have suggested that mixed-handedness indicates that the pattern of authorization is non that which is typically seen in almost people, i.eastward. it is less clear that 1 hemisphere is dominant over the other. One written report has suggested that ADHD is linked to having a weaker function in the right hemisphere of the brain, which could help explain why some of the mixed-handed students in today'due south report had symptoms of ADHD.
Dr Alina Rodriguez, the lead researcher on the study from the School of Public Health at Imperial Higher London, said: "Mixed-handedness is intriguing – nosotros don't know why some people prefer to make use of both hands when most people use only i. Our study is interesting because it suggests that some children who are mixed handed feel greater difficulties in school than their left- and right-handed friends. We retrieve that in that location are differences in the brain that might explain these difficulties, just at that place needs to be more than inquiry.
"Because mixed-handedness is such a rare condition, the number of children we were able to report was relatively small, but our results are statistically and clinically significant. That said, our results should not be taken to mean that all children who are mixed-handed volition have issues at school or develop ADHD. We constitute that mixed-handed children and adolescents were at a higher risk of having certain problems, but we'd like to stress that near of the mixed-handed children we followed didn't have any of these difficulties," added Dr Rodriguez.
To written report the effects of mixed-handedness, Dr Rodriguez and her colleagues looked at prospective data from a cohort of 7,871 children from Northern Finland. Using questionnaires, the researchers assessed the children when they reached seven to 8 years of age and once again at 15 to 16 years of age.
When the children were anile eight, the researchers asked parents and teachers to assess their linguistic abilities, scholastic performance and behaviour. The teachers reported whether children had difficulties in reading, writing or mathematics and rated the children's academic functioning as beneath boilerplate, average or above average.
The adolescents' parents and the adolescents themselves completed follow-upwards questionnaires when they were xv-16 years of age, with the children evaluating their schoolhouse operation in relation to their peers and the parents assessing their children'south behaviour, on a questionnaire that is widely used to place ADHD symptoms.
The research was funded by the Academy of Finland; Sigrid Juselius Foundation, Republic of finland; Thule Plant, University of Oulu, Finland; and the National Plant of Mental Health. Dr Rodriguez received support from VINNMER.
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For farther information please contact:
Laura Gallagher
Press Officer
Purple College London
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Notes to editors:
1. "Mixed-Handedness Is Linked to Mental Health Problems in Children and Adolescents," Pediatrics, Monday 25 January 2010.
Lead writer: Dr Alina Rodriguez (for full author details please meet newspaper)
2. About Imperial College London
Consistently rated amongst the world'due south best universities, Majestic College London is a science-based establishment with a reputation for excellence in teaching and enquiry that attracts 14,000 students and six,000 staff of the highest international quality.
Innovative research at the College explores the interface betwixt science, medicine, engineering and business organisation, delivering applied solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.
Since its foundation in 1907, Majestic'southward contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the evolution of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with electric current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to meliorate wellness in the United kingdom and globally, tackle climate change and develop clean and sustainable sources of free energy.
Website:www.purple.ac.uk
Source: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/81322/mixed-handed-children-more-likely-have-mental/
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