Self-reported social and personal experiences of adolescents with ADHD

Abstract

In the predominantly sociometric approach used to investigate the social and personal experience of adolescents with ADHD, teachers, parents, peers, or observers rate their perception of the sociol relationships experienced by the adolescent with ADHD.The adolescent's subjective perspective of his or her situation has been largely ignored.The present study examined self-reported peer rejection, peer-related loneliness, coping “strength”, and interpersonal concerns experienced by 84 adolescents: 22 with ADHD Predominantly Inattentive Type (ADHD-PI), 19 with ADHD Predominantly Hyperactive Type (ADHD-PHI), and 43 nondisordered adolescents. The adolescents, from southwest Sydney, attended mainstream schools.Adolescents with ADHD-PI reported significantly less manageability and less concern about others' feelings and about relationships with others than did nondisordered adolescents.Adolescents with either ADHD-PI or ADHD-PHI reported significantly less global sense of coherence and significantly more peer-related loneliness than did nondisordered adolescents. No significant difference was reported between the adolescent groups on measures of comprehensibility, meaningfulness, and concern about being rejected and humiliated. These contrasting self-reported profiles of the social and personal experience of adolescents with ADHD and nondisordered adolescents have implications for researchers and practitioners.

Keywords::

• ADHD
• adolescence
• attention
• hyperactivity
• peers
• self-report
• social development
• subtypes