Father residency and symptoms of ADHD: adult male involvement as a mediator

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the association between fathers' involvement and the presence of later symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. A community‐based, nationally representative sample of children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Kindergarten Cohort was utilised. Using a tripartite model, father involvement was investigated as a function of the time a father spent with the child and father's residency status. Structural equation modelling was employed to examine the association of father involvement during the spring semester of kindergarten with the presence of later symptoms of ADHD during the child's spring semester of first grade. Findings from the current study indicate that time children spent with an adult male may mediate the association between father residency and later symptoms of ADHD in children.