Marissa Swaim Griggs

Parental influence on children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: II. Results of a pilot intervention training parents as friendship coaches for children.

We report findings from a pilot intervention that trained parents to be “friendship coaches” for their children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Parents of 62 children with ADHD (ages 6–10; 68% male) were randomly assigned to receive the parental friendship coaching (PFC) intervention, or to be in a no-treatment control group. Families of 62 children without ADHD were included as normative comparisons. PFC was administered in eight, 90-minute sessions to parents; there was no child treatment component. Parents were taught to arrange a social context in which their children were optimally likely to develop good peer relationships. Receipt of PFC predicted improvements in children’s social skills and friendship quality on playdates as reported by parents, and peer acceptance and rejection as reported by teachers unaware of treatment status. PFC also predicted increases in observed parental facilitation and corrective feedback, and reductions in criticism during the child’s peer interaction, which mediated the improvements in children’s peer relationships. However, no effects for PFC were found on the number of playdates hosted or on teacher report of child social skills. Findings lend initial support to a treatment model that targets parental behaviors to address children’s peer problems.

A Randomized Trial of a Classroom Intervention to Increase Peers' Social Inclusion of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

OBJECTIVE Interventions for peer problems among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) typically focus on improving these childrens behaviors. This study tested the proposition that an adjunctive component encouraging the peer group to be socially inclusive of children with ADHD would augment the efficacy of traditional interventions. METHOD Two interventions were compared: contingency management training (COMET), a traditional behavioral management treatment to improve socially competent behavior in children with ADHD, and Making Socially Accepting Inclusive Classrooms (MOSAIC), a novel treatment that supplemented behavioral management for children with ADHD with procedures training peers to be socially inclusive. Children ages 6.8-9.8 (24 with ADHD; 113 typically developing [TD]) attended a summer day program grouped into same-age, same-sex classrooms with previously unacquainted peers. Children with ADHD received both COMET and MOSAIC with a repeated measures crossover design. TD children provided sociometric information about the children with ADHD. RESULTS Whereas the level of behavior problems displayed by children with ADHD did not differ across treatment conditions, children with ADHD displayed improved sociometric preference and more reciprocated friendships, and received more positive messages from peers, when they were in MOSAIC relative to COMET. However, the beneficial effects of MOSAIC over COMET predominantly occurred for boys relative to girls. CONCLUSIONS Data support the concept that adjunctive procedures to increase the inclusiveness of the peer group may ameliorate peer problems among children with ADHD, and suggest the potential utility of modifying MOSAIC to be delivered in regular classroom settings.

The Role of Maternal and Child ADHD Symptoms in Shaping Interpersonal Relationships

The current study investigated the influence of maternal ADHD symptoms on: (a) mothers’ own social functioning; (b) their child’s social functioning; and (c) parent–child interactions following a lab-based playgroup involving children and their peers. Participants were 103 biological mothers of children ages 6–10. Approximately half of the children had ADHD, and the remainder were comparison youth. After statistical control of children’s ADHD diagnostic status and mothers’ educational attainment, mothers’ own inattentive ADHD symptoms predicted poorer self-reported social skills. Children with ADHD were reported to have more social problems by parents and teachers, as well as received fewer positive sociometric nominations from playgroup peers relative to children without ADHD. After control of child ADHD status, higher maternal inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity each predicted children having more parent-reported social problems; maternal inattention predicted children receiving more negative sociometric nominations from playgroup peers. There were interactions between maternal ADHD symptoms and children’s ADHD diagnostic status in predicting some child behaviors and parent–child relationship measures. Specifically, maternal inattention was associated with decreased prosocial behavior for children without ADHD, but did not influence the prosocial behavior of children with ADHD. Maternal inattention was associated with mothers’ decreased corrective feedback and, at a trend level, decreased irritability toward their children with ADHD, but there was no relationship between maternal inattention and maternal behaviors for children without ADHD. A similar pattern was observed for maternal hyperactivity/impulsivity and mothers’ observed irritability towards their children. Treatment implications of findings are discussed.