Empowering Exceptional Children

Empowering Exceptional Children

The Effectiveness of a Social Cognition Training Program on Empathy Skills and Social Skills in Adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Maryam Noe-Iran 1
Narges Slami 2
Saeedeh Soheili Mehr 3
leila Saghayan 4
roohallah fathabadi 5
1 Master’s degree in General Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran.
2 Master’s degree in General Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
3 Ph.D. Candidate of Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
4 Master’s Degree in Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, Islamic Azad University, Electronic Branch, Tehran, Iran.
5 Ph.D. in Psychology and Education, Department of Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/ceciranj.2026.572975.2025
Abstract
The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a social cognition training program on empathy and social skills in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The research employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest–posttest and a control group. The statistical population consisted of adolescents with ADHD who attended counseling and psychological service centers and psychiatric clinics in District 2 of Tehran in 2025. From this population, 30 eligible adolescents with ADHD were selected through purposive sampling based on the inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group (15 participants in each group). The research instruments included the Child and Adolescent Empathy Questionnaire (Ornaghi et al., 2017) and the Social Skills Questionnaire (Gresham & Elliott, 1992). The experimental group received the social cognition training program in ten 60-minute sessions (two sessions per week) administered by the researchers. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) in SPSS version 26. The results indicated that after controlling for the pretest effect, there was a significant difference (p < .05) between the experimental and control groups in the posttest scores of all subscales of empathy and social skills. These findings suggest that the social cognition training program improved empathy and social skills in adolescents with ADHD. Based on these results, the application of social cognition training programs for adolescents with ADHD is recommended in educational and clinical settings.
Keywords
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Social Cognition
Empathy Skills
Social Skills
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 01 November 2025
  • Revise Date 20 June 2026
  • Accept Date 21 June 2026