Gender difference in social skills of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

Abstract Background Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often show social skills difficulties, the cause of which continues to be less understood. These difficulties are thought to stem from the main symptoms of ADHD. Gender differences in social skills among individuals with ADHD have also not been well investigated in research. Objective Therefore, this study aimed to compare social skills between boys and girls in ADHD and to compare how these differences related to those observed in typically developing (TD) boys and girls. It also aimed to assess the correlation between the severity of ADHD symptoms and social skills among ADHD boys and girls. Methods The sample included 54 ADHD children and 54 TD children aged 8–13 years. Data was collected from the children and the parents via the “Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children”, the “Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters”, in addition to the “Conners’ Parent Rating Scale”. “Continuous Performance Test” (CPT) as well as “Stanford Binet” intelligence quotient were also done for the children. Results Boys showed significantly lower social skills in both groups but more pronouncedly in the ADHD group. Among the ADHD group, boys had higher ADHD severity. Among the ADHD group, lower social skills were correlated with higher ADHD symptoms severity but not with the ADHD cognitive deficits or with the children’s age or socioeconomic status. Conclusions Social skills difficulties associated with ADHD are more pronounced in boys. This may be related to the higher ADHD severity observed in boys. Moreover, poorer social skills are closely related to the severity of ADHD symptoms suggesting that social skills difficulties are part of the main symptomatology of ADHD.