The Role of Language in the Social and Academic Functioning of Children With ADHD.

Objective: To provide an in-depth examination of whether pragmatic, expressive, receptive, and narrative language are associated with the social and academic functioning of children with ADHD.
Method: Children with ADHD ( n  = 46) and neurotypical comparison (NC) children ( n  = 40) aged 7 to 11 years completed tasks measuring expressive, receptive, and narrative language, while parents rated pragmatic language and social- and academic functioning.
Results: Children with ADHD differed significantly from NC children on pragmatic language, expressive language, receptive language, and narrative coherence. An examination of indirect effects revealed that a significant proportion of the association between ADHD and social functioning was shared with pragmatic language, while a significant proportion of the association between ADHD and academic difficulties was shared with pragmatic language as well as with expressive language.
Conclusion: This preliminary study supports the clinical relevance of language in relation to the academic- and social functioning of children with ADHD.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.