title: Does childhood positive self-perceptual bias mediate adolescent risky behavior in youth from the MTA study?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study's primary aim was to examine whether the positive self-perceptual bias present in many youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Hoza et al., 2004; Hoza, Pelham, Dobbs, Owens, & Pillow, 2002) mediates the relation of childhood ADHD status to later risky behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a subset of children with ADHD and comparison children (n = 645) from the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With ADHD, we predicted that a positive bias in childhood would partially or fully mediate the relation between having ADHD and risky driving and sexual behaviors 8 years later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results strongly supported this hypothesis for risky driving behavior but only provided limited support for risky sexual behavior.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taken together, findings suggest that future research should explore whether self-perceptual bias may be a useful target of intervention for children with ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Vermont.
authors.forename: Betsy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hoza
authors.forename: Julia D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: McQuade
authors.forename: Dianna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murray-Close
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shoulberg
authors.forename: Brooke S G
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: L Eugene
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Lily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hechtman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000523:psychology*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012649:Self Concept; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult