The relation of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity to peer dislike: An examination of potential mediators

Children who exhibit inattention (IA) and hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI), symptoms often indicative of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have notable social impairments. We investigated whether IA and HI are directly connected to peer difficulties or indirectly connected through their known association with other problem behaviors. Quadratic assignment procedures (QAP) were employed to address the main study questions: Is the relation between a child reporting not wanting to play with a peer who they perceive as HI and/or IA mediated by the child's perception of that same peer as reactively aggressive, instrumentally aggressive, and/or anxiously withdrawn? Participants were 387 fourth and fifth graders nested in 21 classroom-based peer networks. Participants nominated classroom peers as IA, HI, aggressive, anxiously withdrawn, and as liked-least. Analyses were conducted separately for each classroom-based peer network, and meta-analytic procedures were used to compile results and calculate effect sizes across networks. Controlling for gender homophily between nominators and nominees, logistic regression QAPs indicated that reactive and instrumental aggression do not mediate the relation between IA/HI and peer dislike but, rather, add unique information beyond IA/HI. In contrast, nominating a peer as anxious-withdrawn was not tied to nominating that same peer as IA, HI, or disliked. The results suggest that children find IA and HI aversive enough to contribute to their disliking of peers who exhibit these behaviors, even when accounting for co-occurring aggressive behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).