Social Resilience in Children with ADHD: Parent and Teacher Factors

Abstract

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) commonly experience poor social functioning. Previous investigations have focused on risk factors for social impairment such as children’s comorbid behavior problems and negative parenting. By contrast, few studies have considered parent and teacher processes that contribute to social resilience. We investigated how potential risk factors (child externalizing behavior, child internalizing behavior, negative parenting) and compensatory/protective factors (parent social competence, positive teacher-child relationship quality) may relate to social competence in children with ADHD. Participants were 213 children with ADHD (148 boys; ages 6–11). Using a cross-sectional design, parents and teachers reported on children’s comorbid externalizing and internalizing behavior problems and social skills. Parents also reported on their own social competence and parenting practices, while teachers reported on their relationship quality with the children in the study. Results indicated that: (a) the risk factors of child externalizing and internalizing behavior were associated with poorer child social skills; (b) positive teacher-child relationship quality and high parent social competence were associated with better child social skills after statistical control of risk factors; (c) high parent social competence mitigated the association between child externalizing behavior and poor child social skills; and (d) positive teacher-child relationship quality mitigated the association between child internalizing behavior and poor child social skills. The presence of positive parent and teacher constructs was not necessarily equivalent to the absence of negative constructs, suggesting complexity in risk and resilience processes. We discuss the clinical implications of these findings for encouraging social resilience among children with ADHD.