Sébastien Normand

Social support as a predictor of school bonding and academic motivation following the transition to Italian middle school

After five years in elementary schools with small classes and stimulation of basic thinking skills, Italian children move to very traditional scuola media. Data obtained from 434 Italian pupils revealed that school bonding and academic motivation declined sharply after this transition. Social support by parents, but not friends, was a predictor of school bonding and academic motivation. There was little consistent evidence of compensatory processes: Support by a friend did not generally compensate for negative relationships with parents. However, there were some indications that a positive relationship with one parent might compensate for negative interactions with the other parent. Our findings suggest that parental social support has a unique function in bolstering school bonding and academic motivation after the transition to scuola media.

The Importance of Social Contextual Factors in Peer Relationships of Children with ADHD

Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often have poor peer relationships, as evidenced by difficulties in being accepted and befriended by peers, as well as poor quality and stability in any friendships they do have. This peer impairment is important for researchers and clinicians to consider because it can exacerbate behavior problems, emotional maladjustment, and academic failure over time in children with ADHD. In this review, we highlight the important ways in which children with ADHD demonstrate impairment in their peer relationships. We argue that the traditional conceptualization of peer problems, which focuses on inappropriate behaviors within children with ADHD to explain their social difficulties, fails to take into account peer group factors that also contribute to the peer impairment seen in ADHD populations. Further, the predominant focus on changing the behavior deficits of children with ADHD has limited the design of effective treatments that address the multifaceted reasons for peer impairment in this population. We conclude with a discussion of implications and future directions for clinical intervention and research.

Screening for Working Memory Deficits in the Classroom: The Psychometric Properties of the Working Memory Rating Scale in a Longitudinal School-Based Study

Objective: The aim of this 18-month longitudinal study was to explore the psychometric properties of the recently developed Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS) within a general school population of 524 six- to nine-year-old children (259 boys, 265 girls) and with an examination of sex and time differences. Method: Teachers completed the WMRS and children completed objective measures of WM and standardized measures of academic achievement. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses indicated a poor fit for the 20 original WMRS items. Post hoc analyses, however, revealed that the factor structure of an alternative five-item short form was strong for both boys and girls and at the two time points, spanning two consecutive academic years. Internal consistency, criterion-related validity, and convergent validity of this alternative five-item WMRS were also excellent. Conclusion: The short five-item WMRS may eventually provide teachers with a useful and time-effective method to screen for WM deficits at school.

Distinguishing features of cuban children referred for professional help because of ADHD: looking beyond the symptoms.

Objective: To distinguish Cuban children clinically referred because of ADHD from an at-risk community sample and a community control group in terms of symptoms, associated difficulties and impairment of family and peer relations. Method: Parents and teachers of 1,036 children (6-8 years old) completed an established ADHD rating scale and a behavioral screening measure, including peer functioning.We also administered a structured clinical interview and measures of family impairment to the clinical sample and to an at-risk community-based subsample. Results: Although both clinical and at-risk groups displayed more externalizing and internalizing symptoms than controls, referred children were not only characterized by higher levels of ADHD symptoms, but also by greater impairment of family and peer relations than at-risk community children or community controls. Conclusion: The findings suggest that ADHD has major consequences on the family and peer functioning of Cuban children, which may lead to their referral for treatment.

Behaviors associated with negative affect in the friendships of children with ADHD: An exploratory study

Our objective was to identify behaviors and contextual situations associated with negative affect observed in the interactions of children with and without ADHD and their real-life friends. We expected negative affect to be linked to rule violations and disagreements about the choice of games. Loss of game was associated with episodes of negative affect in a structured game. Negative appraisal of friends ability was most frequently associated with negative affect during unstructured free play. Comparison children expressed greater frustration regarding their own abilities, whereas children with ADHD commented more frequently about the inabilities of their friends.