title: Social functioning difficulties in ADHD: association with PDD risk.
abstract: Although social difficulties are a common feature of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), little is known about the diversity of social problems, their etiology, or their relationship to disorders of social behavior, such as autism or Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). In 379 children and adolescents with ADHD, social functioning was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991). Factor analysis and structural equation modeling revealed two factors that we labeled Peer Rejection and Social Immaturity. A factor reflecting ;PDD risk' was defined from eight items of a separate screening instrument for PDD and examined for its association with these two social factors. There was a significant association with both factors, but the association was much stronger for the Social Immaturity (Standardized Beta [beta ] = .51) than Peer Rejection (beta = .29) factors. Social Immaturity was also associated with a greater number of hyperactive symptoms while high Peer Rejection was associated with increased aggression and lower IQ in the ADHD children.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carpenter Rich
authors.forename: Sandra K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Loo
authors.forename: May
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Smalley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010379:Peer Group; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012919:Social Behavior