Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders among children. The symptoms of ADHD may lead to several impairments in children who experience them and that includes difficulties with peers. The purpose of this study is to review previous research concerning peer relationships among children with ADHD. In this review, six papers were selected from the database Google Scholar using the keywords peer relationships, peer problems, ADHD, and ADHD symptoms. The studies were conducted on several aspects of peer relationships, including peer problems, quality of friendships, sociometric status, peer victimization, and peer rejection among children with ADHD. Based on the review, it was concluded that children with ADHD are more likely to have peer problems and be rejected and victimized by peers. The findings also showed that children with ADHD had lower friendship quality and sociometric status compared to children without ADHD. The impairments in peer relationships may lead to numerous negative outcomes including internalized distress, academic issues, and long-term behavioral outcomes. However, these adverse effects may be prevented through early interventions that were proven effective for children with ADHD with peer difficulties. While the implication of the current study may raise awareness and provide information on peer relationships among children with ADHD, it is suggested for future studies conduct reviews that cover more aspects of peer relationships among children with ADHD.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Desk reference to the diagnostic criteria from
DSM-5(TM). American Psychiatric Publishing.
Barnes, G., Wilkes-Gillan, S., Bundy, A., & Cordier, R. (2017). The social play, social skills
and parent-child relationships of children with ADHD 12 months following a RCT of a play-based intervention. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 64(6), 457–465. https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1630.12417
Becker, S. P., Mehari, K. R., Langberg, J. M., & Evans, S. W. (2017). Rates of peer
victimization in young adolescents with ADHD and associations with internalizing symptoms and self esteem. Europe Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 201–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-016-0881-y
Berk, L. E. (2018). Development through the Lifespan (7th ed.). Pearson.
Bunford, N., Evans, S. W., & Langberg, J. M. (2018). Emotion dysregulation is associated
with social impairment among young adolescents with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 22(1), 66–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547145277
Cillessen, A. H. N. (2020). Sociometric Status Types. The Encyclopedia of Child and
Adolescent Development. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171492.wecad271
Coelho, L. F., Barbosa, D. L. F., Rizzutti, S., Bueno, O. F. A., & Miranda, M. C. (2017).
Group cognitive behavioral therapy for children and adolescents with ADHD. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 30(11). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-017-0063-y
Dryburgh, N. S. J., Khullar, T. H., Sandre, A., Persram, R. J., Bukowski, W. M., & Dirks, M.
A. (2020). Evidence Base Update for Measures of Social Skills and Social Competence in Clinical Samples of Youth. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2020.1790381
Efron, D., Furley, K., Gulenc, A., & Sciberras, E. (2018). Maternal ADHD symptoms, child
ADHD symptoms and broader child outcomes. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 103, 841-846. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2017-313936
Efron, D., Wijaya, M., Hazell, P., & Sciberras, E. (2021). Peer victimization in children with
ADHD: A community-based longitudinal Study. Journal of Attention Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054718796287
Elkins, I. J., Saunders, G. R. B., Malone, S. M., Wilson, S., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G.
(2018). Mediating pathways from childhood ADHD to adolescent tobacco and marijuana problems: roles of peer impairment, internalizing, adolescent ADHD symptoms, and gender. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(10), 1083–1093. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.1297
Erskine, H. E., Ferrari, A. J., Nelson, P., Polanczyk, G. V., Flaxman, A. D., Vos, T., Whiteford, H. A., & Scott, J. G. (2013). Research review: Epidemiological modelling of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder for the global burden of disease study 2010. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 5(12), 1263-1274. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12144
Evans, S. C., Cooley, J. L., Blossom, J. B., Pederson, C. A., Tampke, E. C., & Fite, P. J.
(2019). Examining ODD/ADHD symptom dimensions as predictors of social, emotional, and academic trajectories in middle childhood. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2019.1644645
Feldman, J. S., Tung, I., & Lee, S. S. (2016). Social Skills Mediate the Association of
ADHD and Depression in Preadolescents. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 39(1), 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9569-3
Freitas, M., Santos, A. J., Ribeiro, O., Pimenta, M. & Rubin, K. H. (2018). Friendship quality
in adolescence and social adjustment in the peer group. Analise Psicologica, 36(2). https://doi.org/10.14417/ap.1551
Forner, C. B., Miranda, B. R., Fortea, I. B., Castellar, R. G., Diago, C. C., & Casas, A. M.
(2017). ADHD symptoms and peer problems: Mediation of executive function and theory of mind. Psicothema, 29(4), 514-519.
https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2016.376
Grygiel, P., Humenny, G., R?bisz, S., Bajcar, E. & Switaj, P. (2018). Peer rejection and
Perceived quality of relations with schoolmates among children with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 22(8), 738-751. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054714563791
Holland, A. (2019). Effective combined interventions to help children with ADHD progress
successfully in their academics, social skills and homes setting. A seminar paper presented to The Graduate Faculty University of Wisconsin-Platteville, 1-36. https://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/80021/Holland,%20Angela%20.pdf?sequence=1
Hoza, B. (2007). Peer Functioning in Children With ADHD. Journal of Pediatric
Psychology, 32(6), 655-663. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsm024
Meinzer, M. C., Felton, J. W., Oddo, L. E., Rubin, K. H., & Chronis-Tuscano, A. (2020). Do
ADHD symptoms and relationship quality with mothers and best friends across high school predict depressive symptoms for adolescents?. Journal of Attention Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054720923088
Milledge, S. V., Cortese, S., Thompson, M., McEwan, F., Rolt, M., Meyer, B., Sonuga Barke, E., & Eisenbarth, H. (2019). Peer relationships and prosocial behaviour differences across disruptive behaviours. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 781–793.
Mikami, A. Y., Owens, J. S., Hudec, K. L., Kassab, H., & Evans, S. W. (2019). Classroom
Strategies Designed to Reduce Child Problem Behavior and Increase Peer Inclusiveness: Does Teacher Use Predict Students’ Sociometric Ratings? School Mental Health, 12(2), 250–264. doi:10.1007/s12310-019-09352-y
Molina, B. S., Pelham, W. E., Cheong, J. W., Marshal, M. P., Gnagy, E. M., & Curran, P. J.
(2012). Childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and growth in adolescent alcohol use: The roles of functional impairments, ADHD symptom persistence, and parental knowledge. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121(4), 922–935. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028260
Ragnarsdottir, B., Hannesdottir, D. K., Halldorsson, F., & Njardvik, U. (2018). Gender and
age differences in social skills among children with ADHD: Peer problems and prosocial behavior. Child & Family Behavior Therapy.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07317107.2018.1522152
Rokeach, A., & Wiener, J. (2017). Friendship quality in adolescents with ADHD. Journal of
Attention Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054717735380
Ros, R., & Graziano, P. A. (2017). Social functioning in children with or at risk for attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1266644
Santrock, J. W. (2017). Life-span development (16th ed). McGraw-Hill Education.
Smit, S., Mikami, A. Y., & Normand, S. (2020). Correlates of loneliness in children with
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: comorbidities and peer problems. Child Psychiatry & Human Development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-00959-w
Zendarski, N., Breaux, R., Eadeh, H., Smith, Z. R., Molitor, S. J., Mulraney, M., Bourchtein,
E., Green, C. D., & Sciberras, E. (2020). Peer victimization and poor academic outcomes in adolescents with ADHD: What individual factors predict risk?. Journal of Attention Disorders. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/1087054720914387.
In-Text Citation: (Marsus et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Marsus, N. B., Huey, L. S., Saffari, N., & Motevalli, S. (2022). Peer Relationship Difficulties among Children with Adhd: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 12(6), 1228– 1238.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
