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Social Skills Differences among Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Types in a Chat Room Assessment Task

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Abstract

This study assessed social skills in 116 children aged 7–12 with ADHD-Combined Type (ADHD-C; n=33), ADHD-Inattentive Type (ADHD-I; n=45), and comparison children (n=38), with consideration of the role sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms play in distinguishing profiles. Social skills were assessed using a novel computerized chat room task, in which participants were encouraged to join a conversation and type messages to interact with four computer-simulated peers. Every participant received the identical stimulus from the simulated peers, but was free to respond to it in his or her own unique way. Relative to comparison children, children with ADHD-C made off-topic and hostile responses; children with ADHD-I made off-topic responses, few responses and showed poor memory for the conversation. ADHD subtype differences remained after statistical control of IQ, reading achievement, typing skill, and comorbid disruptive behavior disorders. SCT symptoms, most prevalent among children with ADHD-I, predicted a distinct pattern of social withdrawal and lower hostility. Parent and teacher ratings and in-vivo observations of social skills correlate with this new measure.

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Notes

  1. The rate of psychotropic medication use in this sample was lower than in other samples, because our study procedures were administered during participants’ diagnostic evaluation in an ADHD specialty clinic, and for many children this was their first formal diagnosis of ADHD.

  2. When an examiner believed the child was not interacting with the program as if it was a real peer, this concern was raised in a research meeting and discussed until the research team came to a consensus about whether or not to exclude the child from the dataset.

  3. When answers were scored such that 0 was assigned for either no answer or an incorrect answer (as opposed to 0 for no answer and −1 for an incorrect answer), effect sizes decreased but the pattern of results remained unchanged.

  4. Children in the alternate forms reliability sample were part of a larger study of children with ADHD that required two visits 3 months apart. Comparison children were not part of this larger study, so we could not obtain alternate forms reliability data for them.

  5. Children in the playgroup sample were part of a larger study of children with ADHD. Comparison children were not part of this larger study, so we could not obtain playgroup observations for them.

  6. Because of power limitations for in vivo playgroup observations (n=14), trend associations at the p<10 level are reported herein for playgroup variables only.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participating families and the research staff, in particular Jonathan Jassy, Katherine Patterson, Shokooh Miry, Grace Blauner, Megan Sutter Jow, and Brian Louie. Special thanks are also extended to Jeneva Ohan, Stephen Hinshaw, Nina Kaiser, and Chris Weaver for consultation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904-4400, USA

    Amori Yee Mikami

  2. Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 543 Moore Bldg, University Park, PA, 16802-3106, USA

    Cynthia L. Huang-Pollock

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, 401 Parnassus Ave, Box 0984, San Francisco, CA, 94143-0984, USA

    Linda J. Pfiffner & Keith McBurnett

  4. Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, 100 Darden Blvd, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA

    Dana Hangai

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  1. Amori Yee Mikami
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Correspondence to Amori Yee Mikami.

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Mikami, A.Y., Huang-Pollock, C.L., Pfiffner, L.J. et al. Social Skills Differences among Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Types in a Chat Room Assessment Task. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35, 509–521 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9108-5

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