Social functioning and self-perception of social abilities in children and adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hypoeractivity Disorder

Children and adolescents with ADHD encountered several difficulties during their development, not directly linked to the inattention and hyperactivity traits (Barkley, 2014) and mainly linked to their social functioning (Semrud-Clikeman et al., 2010). Despite several authors (see for a review Harpin et al., 2016) focused on the social functioning impairment associated to ADHD, few studies have directly assessed these characteristics with lab-based tasks. Furthermore, the role of additional factors (e.g., Theory of Mind, EFs, communication) which could influence the social functioning of children and adolescents with ADHD is still not clear enough (Beauchamp & Anderson, 2010). Moreover, several studies have suggested that children with ADHD may overestimate their own competences in various areas of functioning (Owens et al., 2007) compared to external criteria. On the other hand some contradictory results have been observed (see for a review Owens et al., 2007) and it is still not clear if this overestimation of abilities affects several areas of functioning and whether it is specific for ADHD population, or different in other neurodevelopmental disorders (McQuade et al., 2011, 2017). The main aim of the present PhD dissertation is to improve our knowledge of two main developmental areas of children with ADHD: social functioning and self-perception of abilities. Four different studies were carried out, enrolling children and adolescents with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD, children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and typically developmental children, matched for gender, age and IQ. Firstly, to better understand the specific characteristics of ADHD in the two areas, a cross-disorder comparisons approach was used. Secondly, some aspects of social functioning and self-perception of abilities which emerge as peculiar of ADHD have been deeply examined in this population, considering the role of additional factors (e.g., Theory of Mind, EFs, communication) (Beauchamp & Anderson, 2010; Owens et al., 2007). New tasks and stimuli have been devised in order to assess the previously mentioned abilities. General conclusions derived from the main findings of the four studies, limitations as well as clinical implications have been highlighted in the final chapter of this dissertation.