Abstract
There is an abundance of literature indicating that, when compared to typically developing peers, children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have social functioning difficulties (e.g. Carlson et al., 1987; Carpenter Rich et al., 2009), experience social cognition deficits (ToM; Buitelaar et al., 1999; Hughes et al., 1998), and can have parent-child relationship difficulties (Campbell et al., 1991; Gerdes et al., 2003). There is a lack of research examining whether social cognition (e.g., Theory of Mind) and parent-child connectedness make a unique contribution to child social functioning, above and beyond ADHD. Identifying whether these factors impact social functioning will provide potential additional ADHD treatment targets. In this thesis we firstly examined the relations between ADHD symptom severity, child social functioning, child theory of mind (ToM), and parent-child connectedness. Secondly, we investigated whether ToM and parent-child connectedness accounted for unique variance child social functioning, above and beyond ADHD symptom severity, Lastly, we examined whether the interaction between parent-child connectedness and ToM accounted for unique variance in child social functioning, above and beyond ADHD symptom severity. Participants were 116 children (65 male, 51 female; 38 diagnosed with ADHD, 78 typically developing) aged 6 to 12 years old and their caregivers (91.5% female). Measures of ADHD symptom severity, social functioning and child advanced ToM were obtained using standardised questionnaires, and parent-child connectedness was measured by coding a 15-minute conversation between the parent and child. Pearson correlations revealed all study measures were interconnected. Hierarchical Linear Regression analyses revealed that parent-child connectedness accounted for unique variance in child social functioning, above and beyond ADHD symptom severity, however no moderating effect was found. These findings are discussed regarding their practical implications in the treatment of childhood ADHD.