Does a Positive Bias Relate to Social Behavior in Children with ADHD?

Previous studies have shown that children with ADHD tend to be overly positive when asked about their own skills and attributes. While positivity and self-esteem are good attributes, researchers have found evidence that this specific phenomenon may actually be children with ADHD over-compensating for their perceived shortcomings.

Children and adults have been shown to struggle with their relationships and social lives:

This study aimed to examine whether these overestimates in children with ADHD harm their social lives.

Researchers conducted an observational study comparing 87 children with ADHD to 38 children without ADHD.

They asked children about their self-perceptions and had them interact socially so that researchers could evaluate their social skills.

The results showed that children with ADHD struggled more in social situations. They were more disruptive than children without ADHD, consistent with previous studies.

Those with ADHD and with a positive bias in their self-opinions showed less pro-social behavior, showing, for example, less empathy and compassion.

They also put less effort in their relationships.

These results highlight some negative effects of children holding overly positive self-opinions. When children with ADHD overcompensate for their perceived shortcomings by expressing overly positive self-opinions, they are less likely to form and maintain healthy peer relationships. They put in less effort and are less likely to display positive social behaviors.

Interestingly, one way to help combat this effect is by providing positive feedback to children with ADHD.

One study found that children who received positive feedback were less likely to overcompensate when asked to provide self-opinions and self-evaluations.