(PS6-80) Inattention, Hyperactivity/impulsivity, and Peer Rejection in Early Childhood: Indirect Effects Through Conduct Problems and Prosocial Behavior

Peer relationships aid in the development of social and emotional health throughout childhood. Children as young as 3-5 -years old can exhibit behaviors that may alter their social environment and social status (i.e., peer rejection, peer acceptance). Peer rejection is the degree to which a child is disliked by their peer group. One subset of behaviors related to peer rejection is inattention (IA) and hyperactivity/impulsivity (H/I). Although there is substantial evidence that IA and H/I in early childhood predicts peer rejection in middle childhood, less is known about the potential reasons for the association between IA and peer rejection and H/I and peer rejection in early childhood. Given that children with IA and H/I experience disproportionate levels of peer rejection, and peer rejection in childhood has been found to predict negative outcomes that persist into and throughout adulthood, a better understanding of the potential reasons for the link between IA and peer rejection as well as H/I and peer rejection is critical for future intervention development. Literature suggests that high levels of conduct problems (e.g., disobedience, defiance, aggression) and low levels of prosocial behavior (e.g., sharing, helping, supporting) typically co-occur in young children with elevated levels of IA and H/I. The influence that conduct problems and prosocial behavior appear to have on peer rejection points to these social behaviors as a possible explanation for the link between increased levels of IA and H/I and peer rejection. The current study aimed to examine the extent to which conduct problems and prosocial behaviors fully or partially account for the association between IA and peer rejection, as well as H/I and peer rejection in early childhood. Data from 131 preschool children who participated in a screening project in the summer of 2017 and 2018 were analyzed. Indirect effects pathways were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) in MPlus. Results indicated conduct problems (β = .19, 95% CI [.11, .28]) and prosocial behavior (β = .21, 95% CI [.12, .30]) both fully accounted for the link between inattention and peer rejection. In addition, conduct problems (β = .28, 95% CI [.16, .40]) and prosocial behavior (β = .01, 95% CI [-.001, .02]) fully accounted for the link between H/I and peer rejection. Findings suggest that the association between IA, H/I, and peer rejection in early childhood is best explained by IA and H/I’s association with other problematic social behaviors, suggesting that inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive behaviors themselves may not be the behaviors that are disrupting a preschooler’s social environment. Previous studies in which these links were investigated in middle childhood found that hyperactivity only partially accounted for the link between H/I and peer rejection. The typicality of H/I in preschool, but not in middle childhood, may play a role in these differing findings, emphasizing the importance of considering early childhood separately from middle childhood when attempting to understand the mechanistic relation between ADHD symptoms and peer rejection. In sum, results underscore the relevance of considering early childhood when attempting to understand social developmental trajectories.