Date of Award
Fall 9-19-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
First Advisor
John Grych
Second Advisor
Alyson Gerdes
Third Advisor
Lindsay Holly
Abstract
The current study sought to explain the heterogeneity of social impairment among youth with symptoms of ADHD with the goal of potentially improving a clinician's ability to identify and support those children. A novel model of the relationship between the disorder and social impairment was proposed with serial mediators of parental/family functioning and emotion regulation. It was anticipated that a higher level of ADHD symptoms would lead to more impairment among aspects of parental/family functioning, which would predict more emotion dysregulation which would subsequently predict poorer social functioning. Structural Equation Modeling yielded little support for the overall model and no support for the indirect relationship between ADHD symptoms and social functioning. Potential measurement errors and limitations of the study are discussed; however, the strong direct effect of ADHD symptoms on parental/family functioning, emotion regulation, and social functioning suggest that clinicians and other providers might do well to remain committed to addressing the core challenges of the disorder.
Comments
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)