The present research explored the ability of children with ADHD to distinguish between sarcasm and sincerity. Twenty-two children with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD were compared with 22 age and verbal IQ matched typically developing children using the Social Inference-Minimal Test from The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT, McDonald, Flanagan, & Rollins, 2002). This test assesses an individual's ability to interpret naturalistic social interactions containing sincerity, simple sarcasm and paradoxical sarcasm. Children with ADHD demonstrated specific deficits in comprehending paradoxical sarcasm and they performed significantly less accurately than the typically developing children. While there were no significant differences between the children with ADHD and the typically developing children in their ability to comprehend sarcasm based on the speaker's intentions and beliefs, the children with ADHD were found to be significantly less accurate when basing their decision on the feelings of the speaker, but also on what the speaker had said. Results are discussed in light of difficulties in their understanding of complex cues of social interactions, and non-literal language being symptomatic of children with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. The importance of pragmatic language skills in their ability to detect social and emotional information is highlighted.

Background Depression becomes increasingly common in adolescence. Around 10%–20% of adolescents have a chronic illness, and they are more likely to experience depression. There is emerging evidence for cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) interventions to treat depression in adolescents with chronic illnesses, yet no review has been undertaken of how these CBT interventions are delivered in practice. Methods We conducted a scoping review to summarise how CBT has been delivered in adolescents with chronic illness and depression. We included studies that evaluated CBT aimed at treating depression/depressive symptoms in adolescents with chronic illness. Searches were carried out across Embase and PsycNET. Results Twelve studies met our inclusion criteria. These included diabetes (n = 3), inflammatory bowel disease (n = 3), polycystic ovary syndrome (n = 2), chronic headache (n = 1), chronic pain (n = 1), chronic fatigue syndrome (n = 1) and Fanconi anaemia (n = 1). Adaptations made to the delivery of CBT included cognitive restructuring of illness‐related thoughts, behavioural activation balancing illness‐related and enjoyable activities, psychoeducation of the comorbidity and link between the chronic illness and depression, relationship building, skill building and parental or familial involvement. CBT was typically delivered by trained professionals with expertise in working with adolescents, who worked under supervision. Conclusions CBT for depression is commonly adapted for this population, and the nature of cognitions and behaviours targeted in CBT may typically depend on how the chronic illness presents. There is relatively little evidence to date, and a need for more research into the efficacy and effectiveness of treatments for adolescent depression in this vulnerable population specifically.