Perception of nonverbal social cues by regular education, ADHD, and ADHD/LD students

• Published in: Psychology in the schools Vol. 36; no. 6; pp. 505 - 514
• Main Authors: Hall, Cathy W., Peterson, Andrea D., Webster, Raymond E., Bolen, Larry M., Brown, Michael B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.11.1999; Wiley
• Subjects: Attention Deficit Disorders; Attention deficit disorders. Hyperactivity; Behavior Rating Scales; Biological and medical sciences; Child clinical studies; Cues; Language; Learning Disabilities; Medical sciences; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Social Cognition; Human; Concomitant disease; School age; Social perception; Attentional disorder; Hyperactivity; Learning disability; Non verbal communication; Child; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0033-3085; 1520-6807
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6807(199911)36:6<505::AID-PITS6>3.0.CO;2-9

The current study examined the ability of children diagnosed as having Attention‐Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) with and without a learning disability to perceive nonverbal social cues in comparison to their non‐ADHD peers. In addition, teacher ratings of students' social perceptions were obtained. Participants in the study were 45 students between the ages of seven and ten years who were identified as 1) ADHD only, 2) ADHD with a learning disability (ADHD/LD), and 3) a control group with no diagnosis. The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy(DANVA) and the Social Perception Behavior Rating Scale(SPBRS) were used to measure social perceptions. The DANVA was administered twice to each child in the ADHD and ADHD/LD groups: once while the ADHD and ADHD/LD participants were on medication and once off medication. The ADHD/LD group demonstrated significant difficulty in comparison to their peers in perceiving paralanguage cues effectively. The ADHD/LD group also showed significant improvement on the Postures and Paralanguage subtests during on‐medication conditions. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.