Positive Emotion Dysregulation and Social Impairments in Adolescents with and without ADHD

Although research suggests that emotion dysregulation may underlie adolescents' social impairments, studies have focused almost exclusively on the dysregulation of negative emotions. The present study addressed this gap in the literature by examining whether behavioral manifestations of positive emotion dysregulation are also implicated. A sample of 13-18-year-old adolescents (56.8% female) with and without a childhood diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was used, increasing variability in impairment profiles. Adolescents self-reported behavioral difficulties related to positive emotion dysregulation (i.e., impulse control difficulties, difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, and non-acceptance of positive emotions), negative emotion dysregulation, and social impairments (i.e., peer rejection, friendship quality, deviant peer affiliation, aggression, and victimization); parents rated adolescent's ADHD symptoms. Regression analyses indicated that impulse control difficulties when experiencing positive emotions uniquely predicted greater conflict in the best friend relationship, deviant peer affiliation, aggression, and victimization, even when accounting for negative emotion dysregulation and current ADHD symptoms. The significant effect of impulse control difficulties on these social impairments was consistent when accounting for oppositional defiant disorder and depression symptoms and when examining the main predictors only in adolescents with childhood or adolescent clinical elevations in ADHD symptoms. These results are the first to indicate that even for adolescents with ADHD, positive emotion dysregulation, and specifically impulse control difficulties, may significantly predict social challenges.