Predictors of stress-related growth in parents of children with ADHD

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate stress-related growth in 71 parents of children with ADHD, compared with 80 parents of non-clinical children. Adopting Tedeschi and Calhoun's (2004) theoretical framework for predicting personal growth, the study investigated the contribution of emotional intelligence (individual characteristics), social support (environmental factors), parental self-efficacy and perceptions of parenting as a challenge vs. a threat (cognitive processing). Results indicated that emotional intelligence was the main predictor of stress-related growth, particularly for parents of ADHD children, emphasizing that this personal trait is especially relevant to coping with on-going parental strain; whereas social support made a greater contribution to growth for the control group than for parents of children with ADHD. Path analysis confirmed our research model, suggesting that parents’ sense of competence and of parenthood as a challenge vs. a threat mediates between emotional intelligence and social support on the one hand, and growth on the other.