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Sports
Behavior of Children with ADHD |
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Although considerable
research on the social behavior and peer relations of children with ADHD has
been published in recent years, I have not seen any studies examining the
behavior of children with ADHD in the context of athletic activities.
Participation in sports is an important activity for children, as success in
sports can have positive effects on their peer relations, self-esteem, and
social development. Therefore, studies of how children with ADHD tend to fare
in this context are important to conduct. A
recently published study in the Journal of Attention Disorders provides an
initial look at this interesting area (Johnson, R.C., & Rosen,
Based
on what is known about the social behavior of children with ADHD in general,
the authors predicted that children with ADHD:
Participants
in this study included the parents of 34 children with ADHD and 41 comparison
children. All children were males averaging an age of approximately 12 years.
Of the ADHD children, 75% were being treated with medication at the time of
the study. Parents of the ADHD children in the study were recruited from ADHD
support groups in several different cities in the To
learn about the children's experiences in sports activities, parents
completed a 21-item Sports Behavior Checklist that inquired about children’s
experiences in both team and individual sports. The questions on this scale
were constructed to learn about children’s displays of aggression during
sports activities (“Has your child ever been involved in a physical argument
during a team sport?”), emotional reactivity (“In your opinion, does your
child overreact to team sports wins or losses?”), and their experiences with
both injury and disqualification. Identical questions were asked about team
and individual sports activities so that a comparison between them could be
made. Parents responded to each question on a 1 (rarely) to 5 (often) rating
scale. Parents were also asked about the length of their child’s involvement
in both team and individual sports. RESULTS As
predicted, a number of differences in the sports behavior and experience were
found between children with ADHD and comparison children. In terms of
experience, while boys in both groups were involved with individual sports
for comparable time periods, boys with ADHD had significantly less experience
in team sports activities. Across
both team and individual sports contexts, boys with ADHD were rated by their
parents as more likely to display aggression, to show higher levels of
emotional reactivity following a win or defeat, and as more likely to be
disqualified from a sports contest.
They were not, however, more likely to be injured. Although ADHD boys
were rated as having more behavioral difficulties during sports than the
comparison boys, the absolute level of problems that parents reported was not
high. Thus, even though parents of ADHD
boys indicated that their sons were more likely to have problems with
aggression than parents of comparison boys, their ratings did not suggest
that the problems were of a large magnitude. The
authors also compared how children in both groups performed in team vs.
individual sports settings. As expected, boys – regardless of ADHD status –
were more likely to behave aggressively, to be emotionally reactive, and to be
injured when involved in team sports compared to individual sports. SUMMARY AND
IMPLICATIONS The
results of this study indicate that boys with ADHD are, according to their
parents, more likely than non-ADHD boys to experience increased levels of
aggression, emotional reactivity, and disqualification in both team and
individual sports settings. However, parents’ ratings did not suggest that
the level of problems experienced by boys with ADHD was large in magnitude,
and both groups of boys tended to have fewer problems when playing individual
sports. Perhaps because of their greater difficulty participating
appropriately in team sports, boys with ADHD had been involved in team sports
for significantly fewer years than the comparison boys. The
authors of this study suggest that parents of boys with ADHD may want to
steer their sons towards individual sports rather than towards team sports
where they are more likely to have difficulty. This may be a useful strategy
for some children with ADHD, but it should not be assumed that just because a
child has ADHD, he or she is unlikely to have a successful experience
participating in team sports. Thus, if an ADHD child is eager to participate
in Little League or soccer, for example, a useful approach would be to plan
ways to increase his or her likelihood for success rather than assume it will
not work out and deny the child an opportunity. There
are several ways that parents can do this. First, for children who benefit
from taking medication, taking medication prior to a team sports activity can
be helpful. In fact, one prior study has documented gains in the areas of
game awareness and performance when 7 to 9-year-old ADHD boys received
medication prior to a Little League game. Second,
parents can work to find a coach who understands the difficulties their child
may have in a team sport and who will be able to work patiently and
effectively with him or her. Although no research on this issue has been
conducted, it is reasonable to hypothesize that finding the right coach for a
child with ADHD can be as important to that child’s enjoyment and success in
an athletic activity as getting the right teacher can be for that child’s
enjoyment and success at school. Third,
children with ADHD may have greater difficulty in some team sports than
others. For example, standing in the
outfield for inning after inning can be the kind of experience that results
in a child with ADHD losing attention quickly. Sports such as soccer or
basketball typically involve less waiting and standing around, and may be
less likely to lead to such difficulties. This will not be true for all
children with ADHD, of course, but the point is to find sports that hold the
greatest interest value for your child. Finally,
parents can review the rules and behavioral expectations with their child
prior to participation in both team and individual sports. Children with ADHD
tend to be more emotionally reactive, and providing them with frequent
reminders of how they need to conduct themselves before a game can be quite
helpful. Working out signals which parents can provide their child to
encourage them to pay attention to the game, or to calm down could also prove
helpful. In addition, providing incentives for appropriate behavior during
games and practices—similar to the types of behavioral incentive systems
developed to encourage appropriate behavior at school or home—can also be
considered. Although
this initial study of the sports behavior of boys with ADHD (work in this
area with girls is needed as well) indicates some greater level of
difficulty, parents should not regard this with discouragement. The
strategies suggested above can be quite helpful, and I have worked with many
children who had very positive experiences in both team and individual sports
activities despite having ADHD. It may take a bit more effort from parents to
help their child have such a positive experience, but the results can be well
worth it. |
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