Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2019

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department

Psychological and Brain Sciences

Degree Program

Clinical Psychology, PhD

Committee Chair

Rosen, Paul J.

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Depue, Brendan E.

Committee Member

Depue, Brendan E.

Committee Member

Levinson, Cheri A.

Committee Member

Valentine, Jeffrey C.

Committee Member

Woodruff-Borden, Janet

Author's Keywords

ADHD; emotion regulation; peer victimization

Abstract

Background: Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience higher rates of peer victimization relative to unaffected peers; however, debate remains as to whether core symptoms of ADHD—inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity—are responsible for increased rates of peer victimization among children with ADHD. Given emotion regulation deficits co-occur among children with ADHD, and are often associated with increased peer victimization experiences, the current study examined the role of emotion regulation in peer victimization among children with ADHD. Methods: Forty-nine children (ages 10-15 years) diagnosed with ADHD and their parents completed measures of emotion regulation and peer victimization. Children also completed a laboratory-based peer stressor task. Results: Results supported the association of poorer emotion regulation to both child-report and parent-report of peer victimization above and beyond the effect of ADHD symptoms. Results also suggested that ADHD symptoms moderated the impact of parent-report of emotion regulation on child-report of peer victimization, such that poorer parent-report of emotion regulation was more strongly associated with child-report of peer victimization in the presence of a greater severity of ADHD symptoms. Results did not support an association between a child’s emotional response to a discrete peer stressor (i.e., Cyberball) with child-report or parent-report of peer victimization. When examining the relation between the regulation of specific negative emotions and peer victimization, results indicated that poorer regulation anger and sadness were associated with increased peer victimization experiences among children with ADHD. Discussion: Emotion regulation deficits, above and beyond core ADHD symptoms, were associated with increased peer victimization experiences among children with ADHD, and findings were observed both within and across raters. Furthermore, the regulation of anger and sadness appear particularly important for peer victimization experiences among children with ADHD, such that children who demonstrate more difficulties regulating their anger or sadness experienced a greater frequency of peer victimization experiences. Implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

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