Association of comorbid anxiety with social functioning in school-age children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Overview

Although attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is frequently comorbid with disruptive behavior disorders, less is known about ADHD and comorbid anxiety. To improve understanding about the association of anxiety and social functioning, we studied 223 6 to 9 year-old ethnically diverse boys and girls (M=7.4 years) with and without ADHD. According to parents, children with ADHD and anxiety (n=46) and ADHD only (n=71) were consistently less socially competent than comparison children (i.e., no anxiety and ADHD: n=80) and children with anxiety only (n=26), who did not differ from one another. A similar pattern emerged for teacher ratings where youth with ADHD only and ADHD with anxiety exhibited the most social problems, but they did not differ from each other. These data suggest that comorbid anxiety does not exacerbate social dysfunction among 6 to 9 year-old children with ADHD. We consider findings within a developmental psychopathology framework to further understand social development in children with ADHD and anxiety.