Social resilience in children with ADHD : buffers of externalizing behaviour, internalizing behaviour, and negative parenting

Research shows that children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) commonly experience a myriad of social problems. Previous investigations have mainly focused on examining the risk factors for poor social functioning such as the presence of comorbid behaviour problems and negative parenting. Few studies have considered processes which may contribute to social resilience in this population. The present study investigated not only risk factors (i.e., externalizing behaviour, internalizing behaviour, negative parenting), but also compensatory/protective factors (i.e., positive teacher-child relationship quality, parent social competence) associated with social functioning in children with ADHD. The sample consisted of 233 families of children with ADHD (162 boys, 71 girls; age 5 to 12) from Vancouver and Ottawa, Canada, who were seeking assessment and treatment. Parents and teachers reported on children’s behaviour problems and social functioning. Parents also reported on their own social competence and parenting, while teachers reported on their relationship quality with the children in the study. All data were collected at one time point. Results indicated that: (a) comorbid child behaviour problems were associated with poorer social competence; (b) positive teacher-child relationship quality and parent social competence were associated with better social functioning; (c) and parent social competence buffers the risk of comorbid child externalizing behaviour on poor social competence. Additional exploratory analyses were conducted to examine both positive and negative constructs in parenting, parent social competence, and teacher-child relationship quality, and how may they relate differently to child social functioning.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat