The Initial Social Encounters of ADHD and Normal Children

Julie A. Hubbard

Duke University

Andrew F. Newcomb

University of Richmond

While peer relations have been identified as playing a prominent role in the development of interpersonal skills, the establishment of social controls, and the consolidation of social values (Hartup, 1983), children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) appear to be at-risk for not fully benefiting from these socialization opportunities with peers. ADHD children are often rejected by their peers (Carlson, Lahey, Frame, Walker, & Hynd, 1987), and this rejection continues when ADHD children receive psychostimulant medication (Pelham & Bender, 1982).

The majority of studies that have examined the social behavior of ADHD children have been confined to simple frequency assessments. In contrast, the current study investigates both the frequency and sequence of behavior among ADHD children at the beginning of their social relationships. Utilizing the peer pairing strategy of Cunningham and Siegel (1987), 8 dyads with two normal children and 8 dyads with one normal child and one ADHD child were observed. Thirty-two boys, between the ages of 7 and 12, were participants, and dyad members were matched to within one year of age. The eight ADHD boys were selected from a hospital developmental clinic, and at the time of physician's diagnosis, they had scores of 15 or higher on t he Hyperactivity Index of both the Parent and Teacher versions of the Conners' Behavior Checklist.

Each dyad was covertly videotaped during a 30 minute free play session. Two hours earlier, all the ADHD subjects received the dosage of methylphenidate regularly prescribed by their physician. The videotapes were coded for the play duration of the dyad's interaction (kappa = .83) and for the content of the dyad's verbal interaction (kappa = .86).

After MANOVA and univariate analyses on the play duration codes revealed no significant findings, the play duration codes were lumped into two categories, solitary (Solitary Noninteractive Play and Solitary Interactive Play) and associative (Rough and Tumble Associative Play, Constructive Associative Play, and Rule-Governed Associative Play). The ADHD/normal dyads spent a greater amount of time in solitary play than the normal/normal dyads (p < .05), while the normal/normal dyads spent significantly more time in associative play than the ADHD/normal dyads (p < .05).

Next, a series of analyses were completed to clarify the observed differences in associative and solitary play. First, univariate analysis revealed that the ADHD/normal dyads had significantly longer latency to rule-governed play than the normal/normal dyads (p < .05). Second, a chi-square analysis showed a pattern in which four of the ADHD/normal dyads evidenced a mean duration in solitary play of greater than two minutes, while none of the normal/normal dyads spent a mean duration of greater than two minutes in solitary play (p < .05). Third, sequential analyses of the shifts in play duration activities revealed that the ADHD/normal dyads had problems in the maintenance of associative play. While the ADHD/normal dyads were more likely than the normal/normal dyads to shift from rough and tumble interactions to solitary play (p < .001), the normal/normal dyads were more likely than the ADHD/normal dyads to shift from rough and tumble play to constructive associative play (p < .01) and from solitary interactive play to constructive associative play (p < .01).

When the frequency of verbalization was examined, few group differences emerged. The ADHD/normal dyads elicited fewer positive and negative exclamations than the normal/normal dyads (p < .01), and when three codes (Laugh, Positive Exclamation, and Negative Exclamation) were combined to produce a measure of affective verbalization, t he ADHD/normal dyads evidenced less affective verbalization than the normal/normal dyads (p < .05). More interestingly, sequential analyses revealed a lack of verbal reciprocity among the members of the ADHD/normal dyads. Children in the normal/normal dyads, as compared to either member of the ADHD/normal dyad, were more likely to respond to an activity verbalization with another activity verbalization (p < . 01) and were less likely to provide no response to an activity verbalization (p < .01).

The difficulties the ADHD/normal dyads experienced in their initial interaction suggest the poor maintenance of a goal orientation (Whalen, Henker, Collins, McAuliffe, & Vaux, 1979) focused on fostering the development of acquaintanceship. These problems in initially engaging another peer indicate that ADHD children are at greater risk for not benefiting from socialization opportunities afforded by peer interaction, and the current findings provide valuable information for planning interventions to ameliorate the social skill difficulties ADHD children are experiencing.