Do ADHD Symptoms and Relationship Quality With Mothers and Best Friends Across High School Predict Depressive Symptoms for Adolescents?

Abstract

Objective: Symptoms of ADHD place adolescents at increased risk for depression. The transition from middle to high school may magnify depression risk. This study examined whether changes in adolescents’ negative relationship quality with their mothers and best friends from eighth to 12th grades mediated the longitudinal relations between ADHD and depressive symptoms. Method: 368 adolescents (48.5% male) were initially recruited. Results: Boys with elevated ADHD symptoms in the eighth grade reported steeper increases in negative relationship quality with their mothers relative to girls, and that this trajectory mediated the relation between ADHD and depressive symptoms. ADHD symptoms were also associated with increases in negative friendship quality across high school for boys; however, this did not mediate the relation between ADHD and depressive symptoms for either sex. Conclusion: Growth in mother–adolescent negative relationship quality may be one mechanism that explains the development of depressive symptoms in adolescent boys with elevated ADHD symptoms.