Family Routine Moderates the Relation Between Child Impulsivity and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms

Abstract

Although child impulsivity is associated with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms, few studies have examined whether family processes moderate this association. To address this gap, we tested whether child-reported family routine moderated the relation between child hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI) and ODD symptoms among a sample of low-income, urban, ethnicminority children (N=87, 51% male). Child HI and ODD symptoms were assessed using parent and teacher reports. HI also was indexed by a laboratory task. Family routine was assessed using child self-report. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that family routine moderated child HI. Among children with higher levels of teacher-reported HI symptoms, lower levels of family routine were associated with higher levels of teacher-reported ODD symptoms compared to children with lower levels of teacher-reported HI symptoms. Children who self-reported higher levels of family routine were rated as low on teacher-reported ODD symptoms, regardless of teacher-reported HI levels. Parent report and laboratory measures of child HI did not produce significant interactions. Lower levels of family routine may confer risk for ODD symptoms among low-income, urban, ethnic-minority children experiencing higher levels of HI. KeywordsFamily routine; Impulsivity; Oppositional defiant disorder; Parenting Impulsivity has been described as a deficit in behavioral inhibition (Barkley 2006;Olson et al. 1999). Children exhibiting impulsive behaviors are at greater risk of displaying externalizing problem behaviors (e.g., oppositionality, aggression, conduct disorder) compared to children without these behaviors (Ackerman et al. 2003;Eiraldi et al. 1997). Moreover, impulsivity is linked to both parent and teacher ratings of externalizing behaviors from early childhood through adolescence (Olson et al. 1999). Identifying contextual factors that moderate relations between impulsivity and externalizing behaviors in middle childhood may have important implications for interventions aimed at reducing pernicious externalizing behaviors in late childhood and adolescence, including conduct disorder, delinquency, and antisocial behavior (Lahey and Loeber 1994;White et al. 1994). NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptStudies linking attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ODD symptoms provide evidence of relations between impulsivity and externalizing behaviors in childhood. Impulsivity is recognized as the underlying core behavioral deficit of ADHD (Barkley 2006) and often co-occurs with ODD (Angold and Costello 1996;Drabick et al. 2004;Gadow and Nolan 2002), which is characterized by defiant, hostile, and oppositional behaviors toward adults (American Psychiatric Association 2000). Importantly, children with the ADHDcombined subtype (hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattentive components) are more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for ODD than children without ADHD or those diagnosed with ADHD-predominantly inattentive subtype (Eirald...

Anger and Irritability Symptoms among Youth with ODD: Cross-Informant Versus Source-Exclusive Syndromes

“…Nevertheless, more fine-grained (e.g., life stressors) and developmentally relevant (e.g., parenting behavior) correlates of ODD symptoms may reveal more pronounced group differences and generate a better understanding of etiology. Future research also may benefit from the inclusion of external validators (i.e., independent of parent or teacher report) of negative affect linked to specific neurobiologic processes (e.g., Gadow et al 2010; Kirley et al 2004; Sanislow et al 2010) and specific environmental triggers (Lanza and Drabick 2011), as well as consideration of their interactions (Martel et al 2010; Sheese et al 2007). …”

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