The relationship between the social skills and perceived quality of life of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-predominantly hyperactive-impulsive subtype (ADHD-H)

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between the social skills and perceived quality of life of boys (n=35) with Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Subtype (ADHD-H) ranging from 8 to 12 years of age. Social skills were measured by the Social Skill Rating Scale-Teacher and Social Skill Rating Scale-Parent Form; SSRS-T and SSRS-F; respectively (Gresham & Eliot, 1990), perceived quality of life was measured by the Quality of Life Scale for Children with ADHD; AD/HD-QOL (Dolgun, 2003). The results of the study displayed that social skills of boys with ADHD-H were perceived by their teacher as low (mean=27.4, sd=10.2), especially the cooperation skills (mean=7.71, sd=4.1). On the other hand, parents of these children were perceived their children’s social skills as average (mean=48.3, sd=8.5) on all domains [assertiveness (mean=14.6, sd=2.9), cooperation (mean=9.4, sd=3.4), selfcontrol (mean=10.3, sd=3.1) and responsibility (mean=13.8, sd=2.5)]. Also, these children perceived their social skills as average both at home and at school. Additionally, children with ADHD-H perceived their quality of life at school (mean=56.3, sd=12.8) and at home (mean=64.9, sd=11.8) as average. The current study highlights the social skills and quality of life of boys with ADHD-H. The findings suggest that children with ADHD-H, especially boys, there were differences among teacher and parent perceptions and teachers perceived more problems in the social skills of children with ADHD-H. Thus, gathering information from multiple informants is very important before doing interventions about social skills of children. In other words, the current study presents a picture of boys with ADHD-H in terms of social skills and quality of life for professionals who work with these children.