What dimensions of school climate promote adaptive functioning in adolescents with ADHD? A prospective longitudinal study

Background: The study of ADHD has predominantly focused on individual-level risk-factors, and less is known about contextual factors that promote adaptive functioning.

Aims: The present study is the first to evaluate the longitudinal association between five dimensions of school climate (academic expectations, student engagement, disciplinary structure, respect for students, willingness to seek help) and student outcomes, and whether ADHD symptom severity moderates those associations.

Methods and procedures: Participants included 274 adolescents (45 % female) who completed assessments in 8th (T1) and 10th (T2) grades.

Results: Hierarchical regressions revealed that school climate predicted multiple outcomes over and above ADHD symptom severity, including academic motivation, homework performance, emotion dysregulation, internalizing symptoms, and close friendships. A fair but strict school disciplinary structure and respect for students were the most consistent predictors of study outcomes regardless of ADHD symptom severity. Further, higher levels of disciplinary structure and willingness to seek help attenuated the association between ADHD symptom severity to internalizing symptoms and emotion dysregulation, respectively.

Conclusions and implications: Interventions are needed that target school level contextual factors, such as applying fair and consistent discipline and demonstrating respect for students. Structural level school factors may partially mitigate the negative impact of ADHD symptoms.