Date of Award

1995

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Johnny L. Matson

Abstract

One hundred forty-five boys ages 6 to 11 were administered the Social Skills Rating System and the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters. Subjects were divided into the following groups based on IQ, adaptive behavior, and score on a checklist of ADHD symptoms: normal IQ comparison, normal IQ high-activity-level, normal IQ medicated, mentally retarded comparison, mentally retarded high-activity-level, and mentally retarded medicated. For both normal IQ and mentally retarded children, high-activity-level resulted in higher levels of negative social behavior. Both groups of high-activity level subjects also scored lower on classroom-related social behaviors. Medicated normal IQ subjects displayed social behavior patterns which resembled high-activity-level normal IQ subjects. The scores of medicated mentally retarded subjects, on the other hand, tended to fall in between scores of mentally retarded high-activity-level and comparison subjects. The mentally retarded comparison group displayed lower levels of positive social behavior than the normal IQ comparison group. There appears to be a relationship between ADHD symptoms and higher levels of negative social behavior.

Pages

141

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.5995

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