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Talkative Children: Verbal Fluency as a Marker for Problematic Peer Relationships in Clinic-Referred Children with Attention Deficits

The relationships between attention deficits, hyperactivity, neurodevelopmental performance, and problematic peer relationships were examined in 99 consecutive children (ages 9 to 11 years) referred for school problems to a clinic. Using a teachers' rating scale, 32 children with cognitive inattention and a comparison group of 67 children without cognitive inattention were identified. The former group comprised children who met criteria for Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The latter group comprised children with learning disorders and school problems, 42 of whom did not meet criteria for ADHD. Analysis indicated that the study group had greater peer problems, as estimated by teachers' ratings, than the comparison group. Cognitive inattention was related to peer problems over and above the effects of hyperactivity. Neurodevelopmental predictors of peer problems were different among children with ADHD and those without ADHD. Among children with ADHD, proficiency in tasks of verbal fluency was significantly predictive of peer problems. These preliminary findings suggest that children showing teacher-rated cognitive inattention also manifest significant peer problems and that the presence of strong verbal fluency may make these children prone to inappropriate excessive talking and, subsequently, to alienation of peers.