Social skills and ADHD - Development and evaluation of a social skill training for children with ADHD.

Objective: Social deficits belong to the most frequent concomitants of ADHD. Therefore there is an enormous uncovered demand for social skill trainings, which fulfil the need of children with ADHD. Based on a theoretical model of pathogenesis of social skills in case of ADHD, a special training was developed and evaluated. Method: In an experimental design 40 children with ADHD were examined. Treatment outcomes were assessed by children and their parents on different social skills, attention and psychological factors. Results: As expected, the results reveal, that after the treatment there was an increase of social skills and all other factors. The strongest effects could be seen in conflict management, regulation of emotions and empathy. Conclusion: Training of social skills is a sensible, effective supplement in the therapy of ADHD which should be expanded