The school attendance of adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is poor, leading to long-term adverse outcomes. However, it is not clear why these adolescents resist attending school more than their cohort. Here we examine school refusal attitudes (namely, the individual- driven resistance to school attendance) in male adolescents with ADHD, in comparison to their typically-developing peers. We find that both groups were similar in their ranking of positive school refusal attitudes, with the pursuit of tangible reinforcement from settings outside school higher than any other attitude to school refusal. Adolescents with ADHD ranked negative attitudes for school refusal (namely, avoidance of negative school stimuli or situations) slightly higher than their peers. Analysis of the underlying causes shows that anxiety is the main driver for school refusal in both groups. These results suggest that in addressing school refusal in male adolescents with ADHD it is important to treat their anxiety.
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