Peer Rejection and Friendships in Children with At

Authors: Sylvie Mrug Brooke S G Molina Betsy Hoza Alyson C Gerdes Stephen P Hinshaw Lily Hechtman L Eugene Arnold

Publish Date: 2012/02/14

Volume: 40, Issue: 6, Pages: 1013-1026

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Abstract

Even after evidencebased treatment AttentionDeficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD is associated with poor longterm outcomes These outcomes may be partly explained by difficulties in peer functioning which are common among children with ADHD and which do not respond optimally to standard ADHD treatments We examined whether peer rejection and lack of dyadic friendships experienced by children with ADHD after treatment contribute to longterm emotional and behavioral problems and global impairment and whether having a reciprocal friend buffers the negative effects of peer rejection Children with Combined type ADHD N = 300 enrolled in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD MTA were followed for 8 years Peer rejection and dyadic friendships were measured with sociometric assessments after the active treatment period 14 or 24 months after baseline M ages 97 and 105 years respectively Outcomes included delinquency depression anxiety substance use and general impairment at 6 and 8 years after baseline Mean ages 149 and 168 years respectively With inclusion of key covariates including demographics symptoms of ADHD ODD and CD and level of the outcome variable at 24 months peer rejection predicted cigarette smoking delinquency anxiety and global impairment at 6 years and global impairment at 8 years after baseline Having a reciprocal friend was not however uniquely predictive of any outcomes and did not reduce the negative effects of peer rejection Evaluating and addressing peer rejection in treatment planning may be necessary to improve longterm outcomes in children with ADHDData analysis and preparation of this article were supported by National Institutes of Health grants 1K01DA024700 to the first author and R01MH62583 to the third author The data used in the current paper were drawn from a larger study conducted by the MTA Cooperative Group and supported by the National Institute of Mental Health the National Institute on Drug Abuse the Department of Justice and the Department of Education Grant numbers U01MH50440 U01MH50447 U01MH50453 U01MH50454 U01MH50461 U01MH50467 and contract numbers N01MH12004 N01MH12007 N01MH12008 N01MH12009 N01MH12010 N01MH12011 N01MH12012 The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agenciesThe data set is that of the MTA The Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD MTA was a National Institute of Mental health NIMH cooperative agreement randomized clinical trial then continued under an NIMH contract as a followup study Collaborators from the National Institute of Mental Health Benedetto Vitiello MD Child Adolescent Treatment and Preventive Interventions Research Branch Joanne B Severe MS Clinical Trials Operations and Biostatistics Unit Division of Services and Intervention Research Peter S Jensen MD currently at Columbia University L Eugene Arnold MD MEd currently at Ohio State University Kimberly Hoagwood PhD currently at Columbia previous contributors from NIMH to the early phases John Richters PhD currently at National Institute of Nursing Research Donald Vereen MD currently at National Institute on Drug Abuse Principal investigators and coinvestigators from the sites are University of California Berkeley/San Francisco Stephen P Hinshaw PhD Berkeley Glen R Elliott PhD MD San Francisco Duke University Karen C Wells PhD Jeffery Epstein PhD previous Duke contributors to early phases C Keith Conners PhD former PI John March MD MPH University of California Irvine James Swanson PhD Timothy Wigal PhD previous contributor from UCLA to the early phases Dennis P Cantwell MD deceased Long Island Jewish Medical Center/New York University Howard B Abikoff PhD Montreal Children’s Hospital/ McGill University Lily Hechtman MD New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University/Mount Sinai Medical Center Laurence L Greenhill MD Columbia Jeffrey H Newcorn MD Mount Sinai School of Medicine University of Pittsburgh Brooke Molina PhD Betsy Hoza PhD currently at University of Vermont William E Pelham PhD PI for early phases currently at Florida International University Followup phase statistical collaborators Robert D Gibbons PhD University of Illinois Chicago Sue Marcus PhD Mt Sinai College of Medicine Kwan Hur PhD University of Illinois Chicago Original study statistical and design consultant Helena C Kraemer PhD Stanford University Collaborator from the Office of Special Education Programs/US Department of Education Thomas Hanley EdD Collaborator from Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention/Department of Justice Karen Stern PhD

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