Unpacking the Friendship Challenges of Children with ADHD: A Systematic Review of Key Findings

Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often struggle to form meaningful friendships, impacting their social interactions and mental health. Surprisingly, a systematic review specifically addressing these challenges is lacking.

We evaluated existing studies on the friendships of children with ADHD, comparing them to typically-developing peers and examining the relationship between friendships and social-emotional wellbeing.

Children hand in hand, walking together, reflecting the positive friendship quality and their shared adventures.

We conducted a thorough search across six databases. We analysed friendship metrics and compared experiences between children with ADHD and their peers, focusing on social-emotional wellbeing.

Our review included twenty-three cross-sectional studies and one longitudinal study, with 1,509 participants with ADHD and 1,197 typically-developing peers. Findings revealed that children with ADHD had significantly fewer friends, lower quality friendships, and less positive interactions. However, the results on the impact of friendships on wellbeing and mental health were mixed.

Challenges such as limited longitudinal studies and small sample sizes hinder our understanding of how friendships develop and their effects on social-emotional outcomes. Future research is encouraged to further explore the influence of friendships on the wellbeing of children and youth with ADHD.

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Spender, K., Chen, Y. W. R., Wilkes-Gillan, S., Parsons, L., Cantrill, A., Simon, M., ... & Cordier, R. (2023). The friendships of children and youth with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review. PLoS ONE, 18(8), e0289539. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289539