Summer Camp for Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Naturalistic Context for Enhancing Social Competence
Date
2020-08
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Abstract
Many adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience difficulties in social competence (Ros & Graziano, 2018). Social difficulties in adolescents with ADHD have been tied to poor long-term outcomes and are predictive of global impairment (Morris et al., 2020). Summer camp programs have been overlooked as an opportunity for social growth and development. Evidence suggests that specialized summer camp with social skills training may have positive outcomes on social competence development in adolescents with ADHD (Pelham et al., 2010; Sibley et al., 2011, 2012). The current study investigated changes in social competence of adolescents with ADHD within a specialized social skills summer camp for children and adolescents with ADHD. The present study included a sample of 60 adolescents with ADHD between the ages of 12 and 16 years old and 15 camp counsellors. The Social-Emotional Assets and Resiliency Scales- Adolescent (SEARS-A) and Parent (SEARS-P) report were used to measure social competence. Overall, the present study demonstrated that adolescents with ADHD have significantly lower social competence when compared to a normative sample of adolescents. The study also confirmed that adolescents with ADHD improve their social competence after attending a specialized summer camp as demonstrated by higher social competence scores at the end of camp. Finally, the current study found similar scores between counsellor ratings of adolescent’s social competence and adolescent ratings of social competence. In conclusion, specialized summer camp programs may be an innovative, cost effective, and generalizable method to support social competence growth in adolescents with ADHD.
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Keywords
Adolescents, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Social Competence, Camp, Summer Camp, Social Skills Training
Citation
Neprily, K. (2020). Summer camp for adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: a naturalistic context for enhancing social competence