The attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity is one of the main consultation reasons in the paediatric Mental Health centres. The basic characteristics of ADHD are excess levels of activity, attention deficit and impulsiveness. Nowadays, the diagnostic follows the DSM IV-TR criteria (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and/or the CIE-10. This criteria include three main blocks: the attention deficit, the hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. However, neither of the classifications includes the motivational variable. On the other hand, the clinic experience shows that the motivation variable plays an important role.

Conceptual aim

To demonstrate that the variable «motivation» modifies significantly the symptoms of the construction of ADHD and to determine the specific weight of this clinic variable in the construction of ADHD.

Methodological aim

To develop a systematic acquisition method through observation, using the previous elaborated indicators ‘ad-hoc’ related to the criteria DSM-IV and CIE-10, which will be combined in a category system developed using different dimensions.