[Barkley's model of self-regulation applied to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a review].

AIM: The aim of this study was to carry out a review of Barkley's model of self-regulation and executive functions (EF) applied to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). DEVELOPMENT AND
CONCLUSIONS: Our starting point was the discrepancy between the description and the explanation of the disorder; that is to say, on the one hand important advances have been made from the applied point of view, but on the other hand we still do not have an overall explanation of the problem. The causes of ADHD are then reviewed as regards both specific aetiological factors and the wider reaching explanatory models. In this latter case, as antecedents and contributions prior to the model of self-regulation, we examine Douglas's attentional model and three models based on the concept of behavioural inhibition: Quay's neurobehavioural, Schachar's competitive, and Sergeant and van deer Meere's energetic models. Barkley's model was initially based on 'behavioural inhibition', but eventually the limitations that were detected and new lines of research led him to advance towards self-regulation. The main components of the model are reviewed: behavioural inhibition processes, the very concept of self-regulation/self-control, the EF involved, and motor control. The model is applied to the behaviour and characteristics of children with ADHD, and its implications in the fields of evaluation and treatment are discussed. Finally, we outline some of its main controversies and, in the conclusions, its strong and weak points are highlighted.