Are Social Problems in Children with ADHD Due to Knowledge Gaps or Performance Difficulties? An Examination of Competing Model Predictions

OBJECTIVE: Emerging evidence suggests that social skills difficulties in children with ADHD are not due to difficulty learning/acquiring age-expected social skills, but instead to difficulty performing known social skills in the moment. The current study reflects the largest investigation to date to disentangle social knowledge vs. performance difficulties in children with and without ADHD, while also probing the extent to which children with ADHD exhibit strengths in specific social domains. METHOD: = 277; 42.6% girls; 66.8% White Non-Hispanic) was assessed using the well-validated social behavioral analysis framework to quantify social skills acquisition difficulties, performance difficulties, and strengths across settings (home, school). RESULTS: < .001). CONCLUSION: These findings are consistent with updated conceptualizations suggesting social skills difficulties in children with ADHD are not primarily due to a lack of social knowledge but rather from the inconsistent execution of known social skills.