50 - Parents’ ADHD and Parenting Style: Relation to Child ADHD Symptoms
Description/Abstract/Artist Statement
Understanding risk factors that may contribute to a child’s expression of ADHD symptoms is complex. Relevant literature supports a genetic influence that demonstrates heritability of the disorder. An additional contributing factor involves the environmental conditions within the child’s family. Parenting style may affect children’s ADHD symptom expression, depending on whether the parent is authoritative or authoritarian. Most research suffers from inquiring about only the child’s ADHD symptoms without considering parents’ own ADHD symptomatology, despite the heritability component, as well as only obtaining the perspectives of single sources. Few studies have investigated the relationship between parenting of parents with ADHD symptoms themselves in relation to their child’s ADHD symptom expression. Insight into the effect that parenting style could have on ADHD expression in the child could be enhanced with a multi-informant perspective, exploring how authoritative or authoritarian parenting style moderates how a parent’s own ADHD symptoms relates to their child’s ADHD. In the current investigation, data were collected from both parents as well as their 18 to 19-year-old children. Each parent reported on the ADHD symptoms of their child. The emerging adult child reported the parenting styles received by both parents. The study’s triangulation of data allows researchers to uniquely observe the perceptions of multiple sources and to consider family reports holistically. Despite potential difficulties determining whose perception of ADHD symptoms is accurate, this study supports that the parenting style of parents with ADHD symptoms may influence a child’s expression of ADHD by avoiding the limitations of relying on individual reports.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Christina Rodriguez
Faculty Advisor/Mentor Department
Psychology
College Affiliation
College of Sciences
Presentation Type
Poster
Disciplines
Clinical Psychology
50 - Parents’ ADHD and Parenting Style: Relation to Child ADHD Symptoms
Understanding risk factors that may contribute to a child’s expression of ADHD symptoms is complex. Relevant literature supports a genetic influence that demonstrates heritability of the disorder. An additional contributing factor involves the environmental conditions within the child’s family. Parenting style may affect children’s ADHD symptom expression, depending on whether the parent is authoritative or authoritarian. Most research suffers from inquiring about only the child’s ADHD symptoms without considering parents’ own ADHD symptomatology, despite the heritability component, as well as only obtaining the perspectives of single sources. Few studies have investigated the relationship between parenting of parents with ADHD symptoms themselves in relation to their child’s ADHD symptom expression. Insight into the effect that parenting style could have on ADHD expression in the child could be enhanced with a multi-informant perspective, exploring how authoritative or authoritarian parenting style moderates how a parent’s own ADHD symptoms relates to their child’s ADHD. In the current investigation, data were collected from both parents as well as their 18 to 19-year-old children. Each parent reported on the ADHD symptoms of their child. The emerging adult child reported the parenting styles received by both parents. The study’s triangulation of data allows researchers to uniquely observe the perceptions of multiple sources and to consider family reports holistically. Despite potential difficulties determining whose perception of ADHD symptoms is accurate, this study supports that the parenting style of parents with ADHD symptoms may influence a child’s expression of ADHD by avoiding the limitations of relying on individual reports.