Perceived social support in children and adolescents with ADHD

•This is the first psychometric evaluation of the German version of the CASSS.•Factor analyses confirmed a four factor structure corresponding to the sources of perceived social support.•The scales were found to have good to very good internal consistency.•A comparison between patients with ADHD and healthy controls revealed that children with ADHD perceived less social support. Social support is crucial to healthy development, serving as an important protective factor. This study is the first to evaluate the psychometric properties of the German version of the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS). We further investigated differences between children and adolescents with and without ADHD. Our total sample of N = 525 consisted of clinical participants diagnosed with ADHD (28.8 %) and healthy controls (71.2 %). We investigated item properties, factorial validity and reliability of the CASSS and performed a group comparison between patients with ADHD and healthy controls. Factor analyses confirmed a four-factor structure corresponding to different sources of social support. All scales showed very good internal consistency. Results revealed that patients with ADHD perceived less overall support compared to the healthy controls. The German version of the CASSS is a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of perceived social support in children and adolescents. As children with ADHD perceived less social support in comparison to healthy controls, the identification and promotion of social skills should be an integral part of the treatment of ADHD.