Social understanding of inattention: An examination of the representation of inattentive behaviour in clinical, educational and family textual contexts

Vilar-Lluch, Sara

Abstract

Inattention, one of the defining traits of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity-Impulsivity Disorder (ADHD), is occasionally perceived as less worrying than hyperactivity and impulsivity. However, those individuals who manifest it are often targets of negative misjudgements. This paper examines how the symptom of inattention is understood among three social groups with an active role in the ADHD diagnosis: the medical, the educational and the family communities. It pays particular attention to (1) similarities across the groups and (2) evaluations relating to the symptom. As datasets, for the medical community the study considers the section of the DSM-5 concerning ADHD; for the teaching community, educational guidelines; and for the family, forum threads retrieved from addforums.com. A qualitative linguistic analysis was performed for each dataset to examine the representation and evaluation of the behavioural trait. The analysis draws on Systemic Functional Grammar, including Appraisal. Inattention is consistently evaluated negatively in all three datasets, as impacting not only activities that require strong cognitive involvement, but also a wide range of ordinary activities. Differences in the representation of the symptom of inattention are explained by the pragmatic functions of the three textual genres examined.

Citation

Vilar-Lluch, S. (2024). Social understanding of inattention: An examination of the representation of inattentive behaviour in clinical, educational and family textual contexts. Communication and Medicine, 19(1), 26-41. https://doi.org/10.1558/cam.22379

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 6, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jan 16, 2024
• Publication Date: Jan 16, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 17, 2026
• Journal: Communication and Medicine
• Print ISSN: 1612-1783
• Electronic ISSN: 1612-1783
• Publisher: Equinox Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 26-41
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/cam.22379
• Keywords: ADHD, Appraisal, evaluation, inattention, Systemic Functional Linguistics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/29841479
• Publisher URL: https://journal.equinoxpub.com/CAM/article/view/22379