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Social impairment in girls with ADHD: patterns, gender comparisons, and correlates
R W Greene1, J Biederman, S V Faraone
1Clinical and Research Program in Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, USA. greene@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
Objective:
To investigate social impairment in girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), compare the social functioning of boys and girls with ADHD, and explore the association between social dysfunction and conditions comorbid with ADHD.
Method:
Four groups of index children were studied: 267 children (127 girls) with ADHD and 234 non-ADHD comparison children (114 girls). Groups were compared on social functioning, psychopathology, and demographic characteristics.
Results:
Girls with ADHD manifested significant deficits in interpersonal functioning compared with girls without ADHD and evidenced a similar degree of social impairment compared with boys with ADHD. ADHD and associated comorbid disorders were significant correlates of specific domains of social dysfunction in boys and girls with ADHD.
Conclusions:
Interpersonal deficits are a major correlate of ADHD, irrespective of gender, and appear to stem from the behaviors associated with ADHD as well as behaviors characteristic of conditions comorbid with ADHD.