Positive Illusions? The Accuracy of Academic Self-Appraisals in Adolescents With ADHD.

OBJECTIVE Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) overestimate their academic competencies (AC) relative to performance and informant indicators (i.e., positive illusory bias; PIB). Do adolescents with ADHD exhibit this PIB and does it render self-views inaccurate? We examined the magnitude of the AC-PIB in adolescents with and without ADHD, the predictive accuracy of parent and adolescent AC ratings, and whether executive functions (EF) predict the AC-PIB. METHOD Adolescents (49 ADHD; 47 typically developing) completed math and EF tests, and self-rated their AC. Parents rated their adolescents' AC and EF. RESULTS Adolescents with ADHD performed more poorly on the math task (vs. comparison group) but had a larger AC-PIB relative to parents' ratings. EFs predicted the PIB within the full sample. Adolescents' AC ratings, regardless of ADHD status, were more predictive of math performance than their parents' AC ratings. CONCLUSION Adolescents with ADHD appear self-aware in their AC despite a modest PIB; nuanced self-appraisals may depend on EFs.