An Investigation of Trait Emotional Intelligence and
Theory of Mind in Schoolchildren with ADHD
RATIONALE
KEY TERMS
-’Trait Emotional Intelligence’ (TEI): Children’s self-perceptions of their
ability to identify and respond to their own and other people’s emotions,
linked with behaviour, emotion regulation, and academic success. These
are divided into 9 ‘facets’ and a global score.
•Children with ADHD are theorised to have impaired executive functioning, which links potentially with both TEI and ToM
(Perner, Kain & Barchfeld, 2002). The two constructs can seem to be related (Blair, 2002), and impairment of either can
lead to some of the symptomatology seen in ADHD (e.g. Charman, Carroll & Sturge, 2001; Petrides, Sangareau,
Furnham, & Frederickson, 2006).
-Theory of Mind (ToM): The ability of children to identify mental states in
other people, linked with executive functioning, Autism, and other
developmental conditions
•No investigation of TEI has been carried out in an ADHD population, although it has strong implications in childhood.
Evidence around ToM deficits in ADHD is limited and inconclusive, with many studies being methodologically limited.
Both constructs are linked with social functioning, and the study can potentially shed some light on the social difficulties
shown by many children with ADHD, and hopefully identify avenues of potential intervention for schools and EPs.
METHODS
• The study identified 25 children aged 8-11 with diagnosed ADHD, with
no comorbid conditions. 4 took regular psychostimulant medication at
the time of study
• 25 children without ADHD diagnosis were taken from the same classes
as the ADHD children to act as a control
AIMS AND HYPOTHESES
•The project intended to investigate whether children with ADHD present with differences in terms of TEI profile and
ToM ability when compared with their peers.
- H1: ADHD children would show a difference in TEI profile compared with controls
- H2: There would be no difference in ToM performance between ADHD children and controls
• None of the identified children in either group had major learning delay
• The following measures were administered to each child:
1. ‘ TEIQue-Child Form’ (Mavrovelli, Petrides, Shove & Whitehead,
2008): a questionnaire measuring Trait Emotional Intelligence
2. ‘Strange Stories’ (O’Hare, Bremner, Nash, Happe & Pettigrew,
2009): a set of vignettes with questions to assess Theory of Mind ability
3. 2-subtest ‘WASI’ (Psychological Corporation, 1999): a short IQ test
• Results of all measures were compared between the ADHD and
control groups to check for significant differences in TEI profile, ToM
ability, and IQ
Dr Joe Wilson
University College
London and
Hertfordshire
Educational
Psychology Service
joe.wilson@ucl.ac.uk
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
•Based on this sample, ToM does not appear to be impaired in ADHD.
•The children with ADHD reported a belief that they have a different emotional experience from their peers,
and that their friendships are affected as a result. However, they didn’t feel that they were more impulsive or
that they had difficulties with emotion perception compared to their peers. These are both key ADHD
symptoms, which suggests that they might not be fully aware of their difficulties.
•These findings suggest that generic social skills training is less likely to benefit ADHD schoolchildren. They
are likely to find metacognitive training, collaborative approaches and explicit teaching to be more helpful in
supporting their social and emotional development.
•Schools and EPs need to be aware that children with ADHD are all different, and that they have a good
insight into their own difficulties. Helping them to self-regulate and monitor is likely to be an effective way of
supporting their needs, both in terms of social development and behaviour.
RESULTS
•There was no significant difference in IQ score between ADHD and control groups.
•ANOVA were used to compare scores between groups
•No significant differences were found between groups in overall ToM performance
(λ=0.881, F(12,37)=0.814 p>0.10), or in terms of the type of answers given λ=0.978,
F(3, 46)=0.342, P>0.05.
•No significant difference in overall TEIQue score was found between the two groups
(λ=0.829, F(9, 40)=0.914, p>0.05), but significant differences were found on two
individual factors in subsequent ANOVA, ‘Emotion Regulation’ (F(1,48)=4.630,
p=0.036, d=0.59), and ‘Peer Relations’ (F(1,48)=4.377, p=0.042,d=0.65). Moderate
effect sizes (d=0.3-0.45) were found in global TEI and 5 of the 7 remaining facets.
REFERENCES
•Blair, R. J. R. (2002). Theory of mind, autism, and emotional intelligence. In L.Feldman Barett & P. Saolvey (Eds.), The wisdom
in feeling: Psychological processes in emotional intelligence (pp. 406-434). New York: Guilford.
•Charman, C., Carroll, F., & Sturge, C. (2001). Theory of mind, executive function and social competence in boys with ADHD.
Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 6, 31-49.
•Mavroveli, S., Petrides, K. V., Shove, C., & Whitehead, A. (2008). Investigation of the construct of trait emotional intelligence in
children. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 17, 516-526.
•O'Hare, A. E., Bremner, L., Nash, M., Happé, F., & Pettigrew, L. M. (2009). A Clinical Assessment Tool for Advanced Theory of
Mind Performance in 5 to 12 Year Olds. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39, 916-928.
•Perner, J., Kain, W., & Barchfeld, P. (2002). Executive Control and Higher-Order Theory of Mind in Children at Risk of ADHD.
Infant and Child Development, 11, 141-158.
•Petrides, K. V., Sangareau, Y., Furnham, A., & Frederickson, N. (2006). Trait emotional intelligence and children's peer relations
at school. Social Development, 15, 537-547.