Date of Award

Spring 2020

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology; College of Arts & Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Marianne Miserandino

Abstract

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience higher rates of childhood adversity than children without the disorder. Parents of children with ADHD report greater stress levels, especially when their child exhibits severe ADHD symptoms. Children with ADHD are at a high risk for comorbid behavioral disorders like conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), which compound relationship problems within the family context. The aim of this thesis is to examine how increased adversity for children with ADHD relates to the relationship between children with the disorder and their parents and parenting practices, and how these relationships differ from typical families. Parents of children with ADHD are also more likely to have the disorder themselves due to its high heritability rate. Negative parenting includes showing negative affect or behaviors toward one’s child, or ignoring or responding inappropriately to their child’s needs. Parents are more likely to use negative parenting when their child exhibits behavioral problems, and parents with ADHD tend to use more negative parenting. This highlights the need to include parental measures of ADHD in research. In addition to children with ADHD receiving treatment, parents of children with the disorder should be screened for ADHD and should receive treatments such as behavioral parent training (BPT) to help mitigate the effects of parental ADHD on parenting and parent-child relationships in order to improve outcomes for their child.

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Associations Between Childhood Adversity, ADHD, and Negative Parenting

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience higher rates of childhood adversity than children without the disorder. Parents of children with ADHD report greater stress levels, especially when their child exhibits severe ADHD symptoms. Children with ADHD are at a high risk for comorbid behavioral disorders like conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), which compound relationship problems within the family context. The aim of this thesis is to examine how increased adversity for children with ADHD relates to the relationship between children with the disorder and their parents and parenting practices, and how these relationships differ from typical families. Parents of children with ADHD are also more likely to have the disorder themselves due to its high heritability rate. Negative parenting includes showing negative affect or behaviors toward one’s child, or ignoring or responding inappropriately to their child’s needs. Parents are more likely to use negative parenting when their child exhibits behavioral problems, and parents with ADHD tend to use more negative parenting. This highlights the need to include parental measures of ADHD in research. In addition to children with ADHD receiving treatment, parents of children with the disorder should be screened for ADHD and should receive treatments such as behavioral parent training (BPT) to help mitigate the effects of parental ADHD on parenting and parent-child relationships in order to improve outcomes for their child.