Abstract
Objective: The demands of parenting are usually associated with some stress, and elevated levels of stress may affect the parent–child relationships and parenting practices. This is especially the case of families where children have special needs conditions or disorders, like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).Method: This study examined parenting stress among mothers of children and adolescents with ADHD. The sample comprised 126 mothers of girls (36; 29%) and boys (90; 71%) aged 6–17 years old.Results: Mothers reported their own stress levels as well as the children and adolescents’ variables (severity of their ADHD symptoms, conduct, and emotional problems) and family–contextual variables (negative impact on family’s social life, impact on couple relationship, and perceived social support). Hierarchical multiple regression showed that (a) negative impact on social life and conduct problems were the strongest predictors of mother’s stress. Bootstrap mediation analyses revealed that (b) the association between child and adolescent’s ADHD and parenting stress was mediated by children’s conduct problems and by negative impact on family’s social life, and not by children’s emotional problems nor by mother’s perceived social support. The mediation analysis also suggested (c) a pathway from child/adolescent’s ADHD through children’s conduct problems and then through their negative impact on family’s social life to mother’s parenting stress.Conclusion: These results suggest that both child/adolescent’s and family factors should be considered in the designing of interventions for reducing parenting stress in families of children and adolescents with ADHD.
Highlights
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic and pervasive condition that begins in childhood and is characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity (American Psychiatric Association, 2013)
Parental stress was positively correlated with children ADHD severity, conduct, and emotional problems and with mothers’ perceptions of ADHD impact on marriage and social life, and negatively correlated with mothers’ perceptions of social support
Whereas ADHD impact on social life was strongly correlated with child/adolescent emotional and conduct problems, ADHD impact on marriage and mothers’ social support was unrelated to child/adolescent emotional problems and only slightly related to conduct problems
Summary
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic and pervasive condition that begins in childhood and is characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). ADHD usually leads to difficulties of adaptation in family environment, school, and in the relationships with peers. The effects of ADHD are not confined to the individual alone, but go beyond and can affect his/her immediate social context, especially the school and family context. The student–teacher relationship was significant in preventing students’ risk of school failure or hyperactive– impulsive behaviors both in typically developed children (Longobardi et al, 2016a,b) and ADHD children (Rogers et al, 2015; Prino et al, 2016). On the other hand, ADHD is commonly associated with elevated levels of parenting stress because the parents’ perceptions of the demands of their role as parents exceed their resources to cope with them
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