Symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in elementary school-age children are associated with poor relationships with classroom peers, as indicated by poor social preference, low peer support, and peer victimization. Less is known about how friendship patterns relate to ADHD symptoms, or how friendships may buffer risk for negative peer experiences. Participants were 558 children in 34 classrooms (grades K-5). At the beginning (fall) and end (spring) of an academic year, children completed (a) sociometric interviews to index friendship patterns and social preference, and (b) self-report questionnaires about their support and victimization experiences from classmates. In fall, higher teacher-reported ADHD symptoms were associated with children having more classmates with no friendship ties (non-friends) and who the child nominated but did not receive a nomination in return (unreciprocated friends), and with having fewer classmates with mutual friendship ties (reciprocated friends) and who nominated the child but the child did not nominate in return (unchosen friends). Higher fall ADHD symptoms predicted more non-friend classmates, poorer social preference, and more victimization in the spring, after accounting for the same variables in fall. However, having many reciprocated friends (and to a lesser extent, many unchosen friends) in fall buffered against the trajectory between fall ADHD symptoms and poor peer functioning in spring. By contrast, having many unreciprocated friends in fall exacerbated the trajectory between fall ADHD symptoms and poor peer functioning in spring. Thus, elevated ADHD symptoms are associated with poorer friendship patterns, but reciprocated friendship may protect against negative classroom peer experiences over time.

学龄儿童注意力缺陷/多动障碍 (ADHD) 的症状与与课堂同龄人的不良关系有关，表现为社会偏好差、同伴支持低和同伴受害。关于友谊模式如何与 ADHD 症状相关，或者友谊如何缓冲负面同伴经历的风险，我们知之甚少。参与者是 34 个教室（K-5 年级）的 558 名儿童。在学年的开始（秋季）和结束（春季），孩子们完成了 (a) 社会测量访谈，以索引友谊模式和社会偏好，以及 (b) 自我报告调查问卷，了解同学们的支持和受害经历。在秋天，较高的老师报告的 ADHD 症状与孩子有更多没有友谊关系的同学（非朋友）以及孩子提名但没有得到提名作为回报的孩子（非回报的朋友）以及具有相互友谊关系的同学较少有关（回报朋友）和谁提名了孩子，但孩子没有提名作为回报（未选择的朋友）。在考虑了秋季相同的变量后，秋季 ADHD 症状的增加预示着更多的非朋友同学、更差的社会偏好和更多的春季受害。然而，在秋季拥有许多互惠互利的朋友（在较小程度上，许多未选择的朋友）可以缓冲秋季 ADHD 症状和春季同伴功能不佳之间的轨迹。相比之下，在秋季拥有许多不相干的朋友会加剧秋季多动症症状与春季同伴功能不佳之间的轨迹。因此，多动症症状升高与较差的友谊模式有关，但随着时间的推移，互惠的友谊可以防止消极的课堂同伴体验。