Do Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms Become Socially Isolated? Longitudinal Within-Person Associations in a Nationally Representative Cohort
Open accessAbstract
Objective: This study examined longitudinal associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and social isolation across childhood. The study tested the direction of this association across time, while accounting for preexisting characteristics, and assessed whether this association varied by ADHD presentation, informant, sex, and socioeconomic status. Method: Participants included 2,232 children from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study. ADHD symptoms and social isolation were measured at ages 5, 7, 10, and 12. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were used to assess the directionality of the association across childhood. Results: Children with increased ADHD symptoms were consistently at increased risk of becoming socially isolated later in childhood, over and above stable characteristics (β = .05-.08). These longitudinal associations were not bidirectional; isolated children were not at risk of worsening ADHD symptoms later on. Children with hyperactive ADHD presentation were more likely to become isolated, compared with inattentive presentation. This was evident in the school setting, as observed by teachers, but not by mothers at home. Conclusion: The study findings highlight the importance of enhancing peer social support and inclusion for children with ADHD, particularly in school settings. This study adds explanatory value beyond traditional longitudinal methods, as the results represent how individual children change over time, relative to their own preexisting characteristics. Diversity & Inclusion Statement: We worked to ensure sex and gender balance in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure that the study questionnaires were prepared in an inclusive way. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented sexual and/or gender groups in science. We actively worked to promote sex and gender balance in our author group. The author list of this paper includes contributors from the location and/or community where the research was conducted who participated in the data collection, design, analysis, and/or interpretation of the work.
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These items have also been used to assess loneliness and social isolation in several previous studies in this cohort, supporting the comparison of the present findings to earlier work.
“These items have also been used to assess loneliness and social isolation in several previous studies in this cohort (e.g.Bryan et al., 2024;Matthews et al., 2022;Thompson et al., 2023), supporting the comparison of the present findings to earlier work”
From Investigating the interplay of loneliness and social isolation across adolescence: Findings from a nationally representative longitudinal study (2026) · cites this paper as Thompson et al., 2023
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- Authors
- Thompson, K. N., Agnew-Blais, J. C., Allegrini, A. G., Bryan, B. T., Danese, A., Odgers, C. L., Matthews, T., & Arseneault, L.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Duke University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Arseneault, Louise
- ORCID
- Venue
- JAACAP Open
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-06
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 12-23
- ISSN
- 2949-7329 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10259183
- OpenAlex
- W4321366377
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 3.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- JAACAP Open (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Greenwich Academic Literature Archive (University of Greenwich) (acceptedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Queen Mary Research Online (Queen Mary University of London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD077482)
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (863981)
- European Research Council
- King's College London
- Medical Research Council (G1002190)
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Colt Foundation
- Jacobs Foundation
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
- Economic and Social Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Keywords
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, social isolation, peer relationships, inattentive presentation, school social support, teacher ratings, maternal ratings, sex differences, socioeconomic status, Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study
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