Predictors of peer rejection, acceptance, and victimization among girls with and without ADHD

Examined the role of a range of personal, background, and behavioral variables in the emergence and maintenance of peer rejection, acceptance, and victimization among a sample of previously unfamiliar, ethnically diverse girls with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; n = 140) and Comparison (n = 88) girls, aged 6--12 years, attending one of three 5-week naturalistic summer camps. Reports of demographic information and cognitive functioning were combined with measures of prosocial, internalizing, and externalizing behaviors that were obtained from multiple sources (e.g., parents, staff) and methods (i.e., ratings, observations) at the beginning and the end of the camp. Results indicate that the most relevant predictors depended on both the specific peer-based outcome as well as the time of assessment. Physical attractiveness was the only non-behavioral variable to influence initial peer status once behavioral variables were considered. Whereas overt aggression (gleaned from pre-camp information) was strongly linked with initial levels of being disliked by peers, relational aggression and anxiety/depression exhibited at the camp setting were the strongest predictors of being disliked at the end of the camp. Prosocial behavior emerged as a significant predictor in both initial and later peer status for all but one peer-based outcome. In several cases, relationships between social behavior and peer status were stronger for girls with Combined-type ADHD than for Comparison girls. The important contributions of this work to understanding an understudied, at risk population---namely, girls with ADHD---and potential implications for intervention are discussed.