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Background: Students with attention/deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) continue to languish behind their peers with regard to academic achievement and education attainment. School engagement is potentially modifiable, and targeting engagement may be a means to improve education outcomes. Aims: To investigate school engagement for students with ADHD during the crucial high school transition period and to identify factors associated with low school engagement. Sample: Participants are adolescents (12-15 years) in the first and third year of high school with diagnosed ADHD (n = 130). Participants were recruited from 21 paediatric practices. Methods: Cross-sectional study assessing school engagement. Data were collected through direct assessment and child, parent, and teacher surveys. School engagement is measured as student attitudes to school (cognitive and emotional) and suspension rates (behavioural). Multivariable regression analyses examined student, family, and school factors affecting engagement. Results: In comparison with state data, students with ADHD in the first year of high school were less motivated (p < 0.01) and less connected to peers (p < 0.01). Overall, there was no discordance in third year attitudes. There were high rates of suspension in both years in comparison to state-wide suspensions (21% vs. 6%, p < 0.01). Explanatory factors for poor attitudes include adolescent depression, poor adolescent supervision, and devaluing education. Conduct problems and increased hyperactivity were related to increased likelihood of being suspended, whilst higher cognitive ability, family socio-economic status, and independent schools reduced risk. Conclusions: Potentially modifiable individual and family factors including adolescent depression, behavioural problems, education values, and family supervision could be targeted to better manage the high school transition for students with ADHD.

Objective: This review aimed to understand the broader community's attitudes toward ADHD, which could facilitate public health interventions to improve outcomes for individuals with ADHD. Methods: A standardized protocol identified peer-reviewed studies focusing on attitudes of broader community samples, published from January 2014 to February 2020 (inclusive). Results: A total of 1,318 articles were screened and 10 studies were included, examining attitudes of broader community samples from Australia, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Korea, Indonesia, and the United States. Findings revealed that broader community samples displayed varying degrees of ADHD-related knowledge, negative attitudes (that ADHD is over-diagnosed; that pharmacological treatment is not acceptable; that those with ADHD are more likely to exhibit poor behavior), and a desire for maintaining social distance from individuals with ADHD. Conclusion: Findings suggest that community attitudes are generally negative toward those with ADHD. Targeted mental health literacy could provide an important avenue for improving the broader community's attitudes toward those with ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study examined the impact of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on core educational outcomes in two large community cohorts of Australian school children. Method: Academic (reading and numeracy) and non-academic (school engagement, attendance, peer victimization, and parental expectations) outcomes were compared between children with ADHD, subthreshold ADHD, and controls when children were in grade 5 (M age = 10.5). Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children birth cohort (LSAC; N = 3,540) and the Children's Attention Project (CAP; N = 356). Results: Both subthreshold ADHD and ADHD groups had poorer outcomes on all measures, with medium effects sizes. Differences were not evident between subthreshold ADHD and ADHD groups. Conclusions: Educational outcomes examined in this study highlight the educational risk for upperprimary school children with ADHD or subthreshold ADHD, in comparison to their peers. Monitoring these outcomes is necessary to inform policy, practice, and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Examine individual factors associated with peer victimization (PV) in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to examine the association between PV and educational outcomes. Method: Participants were 121 adolescents (M age = 13.62, SD = 1.03; 89% boys) with diagnosed ADHD. Using path analysis, we tested whether general adolescent factors (ADHD symptoms, comorbid autism spectrum disorder, cognitive and social functioning, and age) were associated with experiences of PV, and associations between PV and academic outcomes. Results: Deficits in working memory (WM) and peer relationship problems were weakly and moderately associated with PV, respectively. PV was in turn was associated with adolescents' attitudes about school, academic competence, and academic achievement. Conclusion: Adolescents with poor social skills and/or WM difficulties who have ADHD may be particularly vulnerable to being victimized by peers. Failure to identify and manage PV during early adolescence may be connected to poor educational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to (a) identify longitudinal trajectories of emotional and conduct problems from middle childhood to early adolescence in a sample of 130 adolescents diagnosed with ADHD and (b) examine trajectories in relation to early adolescent academic achievement and engagement. Method: Group-based trajectory models (GBTMs) were constructed from the parent-rated strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) subscales of emotional and conduct problems at three time points, mean ages 10.7 years, 11.6 years, and 13.7 years. Associations between trajectories and adolescent academic achievement and engagement were examined using multivariate regression. Results: Four distinct trajectories were identified within each domain. High-persistent problem trajectories in each domain were associated with poorer achievement and lower school engagement compared with adolescents following persistent-low problem trajectories. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of early assessment and management of comorbid emotional and conduct problems for children with ADHD as they predict school difficulties during early high school. (J. of Att. Dis. XXXX; XX(X) XX-XX). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to examine patterns of use and factors associated with education support use in students with ADHD during early adolescence. Method: Participants were 130 adolescents (M = 13.7 years, SD = 1.1) with ADHD. Educational support use and the factors associated with use were collected by parent and teacher questionnaires and standardized academic tests during the 2014-2015 school years. Support rates and categories are described. Logistic regression models examine individual, family, and school variables associated with support versus no support. Results: About two thirds of students with ADHD (60%) had accessed education support in the current school year, which included social support (36%), Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs; 22%), Student Support Groups (SSGs; 18%), counseling (17%), mentoring (15%), and homework support (9%). Academic risk (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.03, 5.14], p = .04), behavioral problems (adjusted OR = 1.47, 95% CI = [1.01, 2.14], p = .047), and attending a Catholic school (adjusted OR = 5.10, 95% CI = [1.59, 16.42], p = .006) were associated with receiving support independent of adolescent age, gender, ADHD medication use, and socioeconomic status. Conclusions: Future research needs to determine whether education support makes a difference to long-term outcomes for students with ADHD and to determine why some students at academic risk receive no support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Irritable mood is common in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Research to date has primarily comprised cross-sectional studies; thus, little is known about the antecedents of irritability. Furthermore, existing cross-sectional studies generally focus on the association between irritability and comorbidities and do not examine broader aspects of functioning. Finally, previous research has neglected to include child-report of irritability. This study aimed to address these gaps using data from a longitudinal study of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Method: Children aged 5-13 years (mean = 10.2; standard deviation = 1.9) with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder were recruited from pediatric practices across Victoria, Australia. This study reports on those who had reached adolescence (12 years or older, mean = 13.8; standard deviation = 1.2) at the 3-year follow-up (n = 140). Internalizing and externalizing problems were measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. At follow-up, parent-reported and adolescent selfreported irritability was assessed using the Affective Reactivity Index. Parent and adolescent outcomes measured at follow-up included attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom severity, sleep, behavior and parent mental health. Results: Children with externalizing problems at age 10 had higher parent-reported irritability (β = 0.31, 95% confidence interval = [0.17,-0.45], p = 0.001) in adolescence. Cross-sectional analyses found that irritability was associated with increased attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom severity and sleep problems; poorer emotional, behavioral and social functioning; and poorer parent mental health. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of assessing for and managing early conduct problems in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, as these predict ongoing irritability which, in turn, is associated with poorer functioning across a number of domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]