The Positive Illusory Bias: Do ADHD Symptoms Differ Among Young Adolescents with Accurate Versus Discrepant Self-Perceptions?

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into whether inattentive, hyperactive/ impulsive, and depressive symptoms differ among young adolescents with negative, accurate, or positive self-perceptions of their academic and social competence. Current literature suggests that elementary-age children with ADHD display overly positive self-perceptions, often referred to as the positive illusory bias (PIB; Owens, Goldfine, Evangelista, Hoza, & Kaiser, 2007). Self-reports of academic and social self-concept were compared to teacher ratings and test scores for 164 middle school students in an effort to determine if the PIB was present within this sample. Inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms were found to be significantly higher among the positive self-perception group in the academic domain with teacher ratings as the indicator of competence, while depressive symptoms were found to be significantly higher among the negative self-perception group. In the social domain, only inattentive symptoms were shown to be significantly higher in the positive self-perception group compared to the negative and accurate groups. Interestingly, there were no significant differences between groups with achievement test scores as the indicator of academic competence. These findings provide information about the PIB in young adolescents, an understudied group. Implications related to research and practice are also presented