Does childhood positive self-perceptual bias mediate adolescent risky behavior in youth from the MTA study?

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

This study's primary aim was to examine whether the positive self-perceptual bias present in many youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Hoza et al., 2004; Hoza, Pelham, Dobbs, Owens, & Pillow, 2002) mediates the relation of childhood ADHD status to later risky behaviors.

METHOD:

Using a subset of children with ADHD and comparison children (n = 645) from the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With ADHD, we predicted that a positive bias in childhood would partially or fully mediate the relation between having ADHD and risky driving and sexual behaviors 8 years later.

RESULTS:

Results strongly supported this hypothesis for risky driving behavior but only provided limited support for risky sexual behavior.

CONCLUSIONS:

Taken together, findings suggest that future research should explore whether self-perceptual bias may be a useful target of intervention for children with ADHD.

• Authors: Betsy Hoza, Julia D McQuade, Dianna Murray-Close, Erin Shoulberg, Brooke S G Molina, L Eugene Arnold, James Swanson, Lily Hechtman
• Journal: Journal of consulting and clinical psychology (J Consult Clin Psychol) Vol. 81 Issue 5 Pg. 846-58 (Oct 2013) ISSN: 1939-2117 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 23834228 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.)
• Copyright: (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adolescent Behavior (psychology)
• Adult
• Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (psychology)
• Automobile Driving (psychology)
• Child
• Conduct Disorder (psychology)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
• Risk-Taking
• Self Concept
• Sexual Behavior (psychology)
• Young Adult