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Research predominantly focuses on problematic behaviors in children with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to explain why they are disliked by their classroom peers. By contrast, the current study explores characteristics of peers that are associated with them disliking classmates with ADHD symptoms. To do so, we undertook a novel methodological approach using hierarchical linear modeling to examine the strength of the association between child characteristics, their sociometric ratings given to classmates, and the recipients' ADHD symptom levels. Participants were 194 children (Grades K-4) in 12 classrooms. Using the sociometric method, children rated their liking versus disliking of each classmate. Children's ADHD symptoms were reported by the teacher. Children's self-reported stigma about ADHD, their own sociometric ratings received, and teacher ratings of children's academic competence were collected. Results suggested that children who reported more stigma about ADHD, and who were more socially and academically competent, had a stronger negative association between the sociometric ratings they gave and the recipients' ADHD symptoms (i.e., were more likely to dislike classmates with ADHD symptoms). These effects were strongest at the end of the academic year relative to the beginning of the year. Implications for interventions targeting the peer group are discussed.

Social and academic functioning are linked in elementary school, and both are frequently impaired in children with elevated symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study evaluated the Making Socially Accepting Inclusive Classrooms (MOSAIC) program, a classroom intervention to support children's social and academic functioning, especially for children at risk for ADHD. Teachers delivered MOSAIC practices to the whole class and applied some strategies more frequently to target children selected for elevated ADHD symptoms and peer impairment. Participants were 34 general education teachers (grades K-5) and 558 children in their classrooms, randomized to MOSAIC or to a typical practice control group for one academic year. In the fall and spring, we assessed (a) peers' sociometric judgments of children, (b) children's self-report of supportive relationships with teachers and peers, and (c) teachers' report of children's social and academic competencies and impairments. Regarding whole class effects, relative to control group children, children in MOSAIC classrooms (target and non-target children) were rated by teachers in spring as having better competencies and lower impairment, after controlling for fall functioning. There were no main effects of MOSAIC on peer sociometrics or child perceptions of supportive relationships. Target status moderated some effects such that, in spring, target children in MOSAIC perceived greater support from their teachers but received poorer sociometrics than did target children in control classrooms. We discuss the difficulty in changing peers' perceptions of children with ADHD symptoms, even in the presence of improvements in other aspects of social and academic functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the developmental implications of online social interactions among 590 youth transitioning to university. We observed friends' posts on participants' Facebook pages, and considered attributes of friends' posts used to indicate positive and negative relationship quality in face‐to‐face interactions. After statistical control of beginning‐of‐year functioning and participants' Facebook content, Facebook friends' deviant content posts (swearing; illegal/sexualized activities) predicted participants' lower grade point average, Facebook friends' posts indicating connection to participants predicted participants' lower psychopathology, and Facebook friends' verbal aggression posts predicted participants' lower institutional attachment, by the end of the year. Negative effects of friends' posts were strongest for participants who were disliked by peers face to face. The online context may uniquely influence youth adjustment in conjunction with face‐to‐face relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the stigma surrounding mental illness has been well-established, less is known about methods for reducing that bias. In both laboratory (Study 1) and community (Study 2) samples, we tested the efficacy of imagined contact and perspective-taking for reducing stigma against depression. Participants first read a vignette about an individual with depression and then imagined either interacting with the individual (imagined contact), putting themselves in the individual's shoes (perspective-taking) or a neutral scene (control). In both samples, imagined contact was more effective in reducing stigma against depression than perspective-taking. The findings suggest that different prejudice reduction strategies should be used for different stigmatized groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined parents' perceptions/awareness and internalization of public courtesy stigma (affiliate stigma) about their children's inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms, and associations between parental affiliate stigma, parental negativity expressed toward the child, and child social functioning. Participants were families of 63 children (ages 6–10; 42 boys) with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, assessed in a cross-sectional design. After statistical control of children's severity of inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms (as reported by parents and teachers), parents' self-reports of greater affiliate stigma were associated with more observed negative parenting. The associations between high parental affiliate stigma and children's poorer adult informant-rated social skills and greater observed aggression were partially mediated by increased parental negativity. As well, the positive association between children's adult informant-rated aggressive behavior and parental negativity was partially mediated by parents' increased affiliate stigma. Parental affiliate stigma about their children's inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms may have negative ramifications for parent–child interactions and children's social functioning. Clinical implications for parent training interventions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the developmental implications of online social interactions among 590 youth transitioning to university. We observed friends' posts on participants' Facebook pages, and considered attributes of friends' posts used to indicate positive and negative relationship quality in face-to-face interactions. After statistical control of beginning-of-year functioning and participants' Facebook content, Facebook friends' deviant content posts (swearing; illegal/sexualized activities) predicted participants' lower grade point average, Facebook friends' posts indicating connection to participants predicted participants' lower psychopathology, and Facebook friends' verbal aggression posts predicted participants' lower institutional attachment, by the end of the year. Negative effects of friends' posts were strongest for participants who were disliked by peers face to face. The online context may uniquely influence youth adjustment in conjunction with face-to-face relationships., (© 2018 Society for Research on Adolescence.)