Social Skills Deficits in a Virtual Environment Among Spanish Children With ADHD

Abstract

Objective: Research assessing the social skills of children with ADHD has predominantly relied upon North American samples. In addition, most existing work has been conducted using methodology that fails to use a controlled peer stimulus; such methods may be more vulnerable to cultural influence. Method: We examined the social skills of 52 Spanish children (ages 8-12) with and without ADHD using a controlled Chat Room Task, which simulates a virtual social environment where peers’ responses are held constant, so that participants’ social skills may be assessed. Results: After statistical control of typing and reading comprehension skills, Spanish children with ADHD gave fewer prosocial comments and had greater difficulty remembering central details from the conversation between the peers, relative to comparison children. Conclusion: The virtual Chat Room Task may be useful to assess social skills deficits using a controlled paradigm, resulting in the identification of common social deficiencies cross-culturally.

Participation Profile of Children and Youth, Aged 6–14, with and without ADHD, and the Impact of Environmental Factors

“…This may be due to the difficulties in the social functioning of children and youth with ADHD, which comprise four of the five school-related activities in the PEM-CY questionnaire. Indeed, other studies of children with ADHD indicate high rates of peer rejection, low teacher ratings of their social skills in the classroom, difficulty in social involvement, along with difficulty in cooperation and in reciprocal conversation while playing with others [ 21 , 22 ]. Additionally, this finding was consistent with a previous study indicating that children and youth with disabilities (including ADHD) are less involved in the school environment than their typically developing peers [ 15 ].…”

“…For example, Shimoni et al [ 19 ] and Engel-Yeger and Ziv-On [ 20 ] reported that children with ADHD participate less frequently in most leisure activities, receive less enjoyment from formal leisure activities, and show a lower preference for participation in some leisure activities, such as physical and social leisure activities, compared to children without ADHD. Additional studies indicated difficulties in social functioning of children and youth with ADHD compared to their peers [ 21 , 22 ], affecting their participation in various social activities [ 19 , 20 ].…”

“…Social difficulties of children and youth with ADHD may include peer rejection, inappropriate behavior, and/or difficulties with social skills such as collaboration, taking turns, reciprocity, and focus on conversation and play [ 21 , 22 ]. In addition, this population may experience difficulties in academic functioning [ 23 , 24 ], putting them at greater risk for low academic achievement, suspensions and expulsion from school, more absences, and even dropping out permanently, compared to populations without ADHD [ 25 , 26 ].…”

Efecto de una guía de intervención grupal en las habilidades sociales, en una muestra de adolescentes colombianos

“…Ahora bien, es habitual que este tipo de intervenciones se realicen de forma grupal y se cuente con homogeneidad en el grupo, en aspectos relevantes como la edad, esto con el fin de prevenir que existan diferencias muy amplias que puedan conllevar a un entorno disfuncional en el grupo (Sanz, 2016). Por otro lado, se suele agrupar a los participantes de acuerdo a características psicopatológicas comunes, tales como Trastorno por Déficit de Atención e Hiperactividad (TDAH), Autismo, Asperger y dificultades de aprendizaje, entre otras; de hecho, la literatura expone numerosas investigaciones con las posibles psicopatologías mencionadas (García-Castellar, Jara-Jiménez, Sánchez-Chiva & Mikami, 2015;Mafra, 2015;Radley, Jenson, Clark, Hood & Nicholas, 2014). Del mismo modo, es frecuente que las investigaciones relacionadas con el entrenamiento de habilidades sociales a niños y adolescentes ocurran al interior del contexto escolar, ya que es un contexto adecuado para la observación y práctica de las estrategias, demostrando resultados positivos en las intervenciones en cuanto al aumento de los repertorios adecuados (Caballo, Carrillo & Ollendick, 2015;Vagos, Pereira & Warner, 2015).…”

Crianças com TDAH e problemas comportamentais na interação com mães e professores

“…Nessa racional, as crianças com TDAH podem apresentar menor frequência de comportamentos pró-sociais (por exemplo compartilhar, oferecer ajuda, ser prestativo), bem como de memória sobre a conversa que tiveram, indicando déficits em habilidades sociais (García-Castellar et al, 2018). Tais dificuldades em habilidades sociais nas crianças com TDAH em ambientes escolares podem prejudicar os níveis de satisfação nas relações sociais (Grygiel et al, 2018).…”