Overestimation of Physical Abilities Among Boys With and Without ADHD

Objective: Children with ADHD have been widely reported to overestimate their abilities in social and academic domains, but a similar overestimation of physical abilities has not been examined. Method: Twenty-four elementary school-age boys with ADHD and fifteen boys without ADHD were compared on their ability to accurately estimate their ability to complete four lab-based physical tasks, varying on three levels of difficulty: (a) within their ability, (b) 8% beyond their ability, and (c) 13% beyond their ability. Results: Children with ADHD were significantly more likely than controls to overestimate their physical ability at difficult levels of the task. Conclusion: Implications of these results for preventing risky behaviors in children with ADHD are discussed.