Study 2: Investigating the Relationship Between Social Vulnerability and Psychosocial Outcomes in Children with ADHD

This study will examine whether social vulnerability (i.e., difficulty identifying and avoiding harmful interpersonal interactions) predicts elevated levels of peer victimisation, internalising difficulties, and externalising behaviours in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In typically developing children and other clinical populations, such as those with autism spectrum disorder, elevated social vulnerability predicts greater peer victimisation and higher levels of both internalising and externalising difficulties during middle childhood. This suggest that social vulnerability may contribute to socio‑emotional challenges across a range of developmental conditions. Children with ADHD experience significantly higher rates of peer rejection and victimisation, as well as greater externalising behaviours (e.g., aggression) and internalising symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression), than their same‑aged peers. Despite these parallels with the outcomes experienced by the socially vulnerable, social vulnerability has not been examined as a possible factor underlying these difficulties in ADHD.