A Multi-Method Examination of Peer Functioning in Children with and without Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome

ABSTRACT

Objective

Cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS) includes excessive daydreaming, mental confusion, and hypoactive behaviors that are distinct from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder inattentive (ADHD-IN) symptoms. A growing number of studies indicate that CDS symptoms may be associated with ratings of social withdrawal. However, it is important to examine this association in children specifically recruited for the presence or absence of CDS, and to incorporate multiple methods including direct observations of peer interactions. The current study builds on previous research by recruiting children with and without clinically elevated CDS symptoms and using a multi-method, multi-informant design including recess observations and parent, teacher, and child rating scales.

Method

Participants were 207 children in grades 2–5 (63.3% male), including 103 with CDS and 104 without CDS, closely matched on grade and sex.

Results

Controlling for family income, medication status, internalizing symptoms, and ADHD-IN severity, children with CDS were observed during recess to spend more time alone or engaging in parallel play, as well as less time involved in direct social interactions, than children without CDS. Children with CDS were also rated by teachers as being more asocial, shy, and socially disinterested than children without CDS. Although children with and without CDS did not differ on parent- or self-report ratings of shyness or social disinterest, children with CDS rated themselves as lonelier than children without CDS.

Conclusions

Findings indicate that children with CDS have a distinct profile of peer functioning and point to the potential importance of targeting withdrawal in interventions for youth with elevated CDS symptoms.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary Material

Supplemental material for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2024.2301771

Notes

¹ Students with teacher screening T-scores >70 who participated in the study did not differ on their CDS T-score from those who did not participate (p = .818). Likewise, students with a screening T-score in the 47–53 range who participated in the study did not differ on their CDS T-score from those who did not (p = .523).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by award number [R305A160064] (PI: Becker) from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education. When data reported in this study were collected, Stephen Becker was supported by award number [K23MH108603] from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The use of REDCap in this project was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), under Award Number [5UL1TR001425-04]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the IES or the NIH.