ABSTRACT
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by problems with hyperactivity/impulsivity and/or inattention (1). Children with ADHD also often experience severe functional impairments in the form of behavior problems, peer rejection, and/or academic and family-related dysfunction (2-4). In nondisordered populations, incompetencies such as these generally are associated with low self-esteem and/or depression (5-8). Research on the self-esteem and self-perceptions of children with ADHD is much more controversial, however, and at this time, there exist two opposing points of view. Some researchers have discovered children with ADHD to have lowered self-views as compared to controls (9-11). In contrast, there exists an increasingly larger body of research demonstrating overly positive self-views in children with ADHD (12-16). The topic of selfperceptions in children with ADHD thus is a matter of some contention, and the somewhat speculatory nature of this chapter is merely a reflection of the current state of research in this area.
