Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, Depression, and Self- and Other-Assessments of Social Competence: A Developmental Study

Abstract

This study examined whether others (i.e., teachers and parents) and self-appraisals of social competence mediated the relationship between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and depression. To determine whether age moderated the effects of the mediation, the total sample was divided into younger (under 9) and older (at or above 9 years) age levels. The total sample (age range 6.6 to 11.7 years) was primarily male (194 boys and 52 females) and consisted of 148 children diagnosed with ADHD and 98 community controls. Three central findings were derived from this study. First, there was a strong relationship between ADHD (with and without comorbid ODD/CD) and depression in both younger and older aged children. Among younger children with ADHD, there was no differential influence on the level of depression depending on whether or not ADHD was comorbid with ODD/CD; in contrast, with older children, comorbid ODD/CD had higher levels of depression than was the case for children with ADHD that did not display such comorbidity. Second, with younger children approximately half of the relationship between ADHD (with and without comorbid ODD/CD) and depression was exclusively mediated by others appraisal of social competence. Third, a more complex relationship between ADHD and depression emerged during the later part of the childhood years. As such, the relationship between ADHD, others appraisals of social competence, and depression was further mediated by self-appraisals of social competence. Findings are discussed in terms of developmental theory and theoretical models of childhood depression.

The Positive Illusory Bias: Do Inflated Self-Perceptions in Children with ADHD Generalize to Perceptions of Others?

“…Further, we must take caution in interpreting these group differences in the absence of controlling for internalizing symptoms as multiple studies have demonstrated that comorbid depressive symptoms serve to deflate self-perceptions ratings in children with ADHD and other disruptive behavior problems (Hoza et al 2004;Treuting and Hinshaw 2001). Moreover, evidence is emerging that children suffering from ADHD and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and/or conduct disorder (CD) increases one's risk of experiencing depressive symptoms (Ostrander et al 2006). Of note, 67% of the children with ADHD symptoms in the present sample also demonstrated at-risk or clinically significant levels of ODD and/or CD symptoms.…”

Associations of Lifetime Depression with Trauma Exposure, Other Environmental Adversities, and Impairment in Adolescents with ADHD

“…Because depressive disorders tend to occur several years after the onset of ADHD Kovacs et al 1994), some have hypothesized that chronic and more severe problems related to the ADHD may lead more severely affected youth to become demoralized and to eventually develop depression (Biederman et al 1998;Ostrander et al 2006). Yet, studies regarding the link between the ADHD severity and depression have yielded contradictory findings.…”

“…Early and ongoing impairment from ADHD may increase the long-term risk of depression. Prospective studies in community samples have reported that problems in social relationships and school performance mediate the associations between early ADHD symptoms and later depressive symptoms, independent of comorbid externalizing psychopathology (Herman et al 2007;Ostrander et al 2006). One prospective study in a clinical sample reported that social but not academic problems predicted a more chronic course of comorbid depression (Biederman et al 1998).…”

Diversidade de resultados no estudo do transtorno de déficit de atenção e hiperatividade

“…Dados semelhantes para a comorbidade TDAH/ TDO foram recentemente observados com um estudo desenvolvimental que comparou crianças com e sem comorbidade (N=246). A presença de transtorno desafiador opositivo apareceu associada a índices mais elevados de depressão em faixas etárias mais avançadas (9 -11,7 anos), por comparação com idades anteriores (6,6 -9 anos) onde a presença de TDO não foi determinante dos índices de depressão (Ostrander, Crystal & August, 2006 Van der Meere, Wiersema & Roeyers, 2007).…”