The Friendships of Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Download or read book The Friendships of Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder written by Cynthia Rebeca Maya Beristain and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The goal of this dissertation was to examine the friendships of adolescents with ADHD. In Study 1, I utilized quantitative methods to compare adolescents with and without ADHD with regard to friendship patterns at the level of markers (i.e., the presence of friendships, friendship quantity and stability, and characteristics of friends). In Study 2, I use a qualitative approach to investigate the meanings (i.e., subjective experience of friendship) and mechanisms (i.e., processes involved in forming and maintaining friendships) that may enhance or impair friendships of adolescents with ADHD. Moderators such as age and gender were considered in both studies. The sample for Study 1 comprised 107 adolescents, 13 to 18 years, 59 with ADHD (38 male, 21 female) and 48 comparison adolescents (22 male, 26 female). A subset of nine adolescents with ADHD, 16 to 18 years, participated in Study 2. The Adolescent Friendship Questionnaire (AFQ), Parent Friendship Questionnaire (PFQ), and a semi-structured interview were used. Results indicate that youth with ADHD typically develop at least one close friendship with same-age peers in adolescence. Adolescents with and without ADHD did not differ in the number of friends, the duration of close friendships, or the frequency of contact they have with their close friends. Adolescent girls with ADHD have fewer parent corroborated friendships than male adolescents with ADHD and teenagers without ADHD. According to parent report, adolescents with ADHD were more likely to have close friends with behaviour problems. When discussing their friendships, adolescents with ADHD described common experiences of social rejection, isolation, and victimization by peers, as well as problems establishing and maintaining friendships in childhood and early adolescence. They also recalled feeling embarrassed and emotionally distressed, and they perceived their unique challenges as uncontrollable, pervasive, and stigmatizing. Several adolescents with ADHD described becoming resigned to being friendless in adolescence. The transition to secondary school, however, seemed to facilitate friendship development with like-minded peers for adolescents with ADHD in this study. Findings are discussed within the context of the existing literature on the peer relationships of adolescents with ADHD. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.