Parenting Behavior Mediates the Intergenerational Association of Parent and Child Offspring ADHD Symptoms

Abstract

Although there are likely to be multiple mechanisms underlying parent attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms as a key risk factor for offspring ADHD, potential explanatory factors have yet to be reliably identified. Given that parent ADHD symptoms independently predict parenting behavior and child ADHD symptoms, we tested whether individual differences in multiple dimensions of positive and negative parenting behavior (i.e., corporal punishment, inconsistent discipline, positive parenting behavior, observed negative talk, and observed praise) mediated the association between parental and offspring ADHD. We used a prospective design that featured predictors (i.e., parent ADHD symptoms) and mediators (i.e., parenting behavior) that temporally preceded the outcome (i.e., offspring ADHD symptoms). Using a well-characterized sample of 120 children with and without ADHD (ages 5–10 at Wave 1, 7–12 at Wave 2) and their biological parents, we examined multimethod (i.e., observed, self-report) measures of positive and negative parenting behavior as simultaneous mediators of the association of Wave 1 parent and Wave 2 offspring ADHD symptoms. Using a multiple mediation framework, consisting of rigorous bootstrapping procedures and controlling for parent depression, child’s baseline ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder, and child’s age, corporal punishment significantly and uniquely mediated the association of Wave 1 parent ADHD symptoms and Wave 2 offspring ADHD. We consider the role of parenting behavior in the intergenerational transmission of ADHD as well as implications of these findings for the intervention and prevention of childhood ADHD.

Mediators and Moderators of the Relation between Parental ADHD Symptomatology and the Early Development of Child ADHD and ODD Symptoms

“…Our findings converge with studies (Chronis-Tuscano et al, 2011; Tung et al, 2014) suggesting that harsh parenting mediates the relation between parental ADHD and child ADHD and ODD symptoms. Moreover, the present study indicates that these processes emerge in the early development of ADHD.…”

“…However, only a handful of studies have directly tested whether parenting mediates the relation between parental ADHD and child ADHD and ODD symptoms. In a prospective study, Tung et al (2014) found that corporal punishment mediated the relation between parent and child ADHD. Chronis-Tuscano et al (2011) found that negative parenting mediated the relation between maternal ADHD symptoms and reductions in child disruptive behavior symptoms following parent training for children with ADHD.…”

“…Few studies have examined how parental ADHD is related to child ADHD and ODD controlling for other parental psychopathology. Tung, Brammer, Li, and Lee (2014) controlled for parent depression and found that the relation between parent and child ADHD in school-age children remained. More research is needed to determine the unique contribution of parental ADHD and comorbid psychopathology to the early development of ADHD and ODD in children.…”

DRD4 VNTRs, observed stranger fear in preschoolers and later ADHD symptoms

“…high neuroticism and surgency, Martel et al, 2014], parental [i.e. parenting behavior and parent depression, Tung et al, 2014] and environmental [i.e. media use, Nikkelen et al, 2014 and family income, Larsson et al, 2014] factors mediate the link between genetic variation and ADHD symptoms.…”

DRD4 Variants Moderate the Impact of Parental Characteristics on Child Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Exploratory Evidence from a Multiplex Family Design

“…Notably, recent work has also indicated that parenting dimensions, specifically the use of corporal punishment strategies, mediated associations between parental and offspring ADHD (Tung et al 2015), suggesting that parenting dimensions may play a key role in understanding the transmission of ADHD. Along these lines, significant G×E effects involving inconsistent parental discipline have also been observed for ADHD (Martel et al 2011), indicating that the impact of negative (or positive) parenting on youth functioning may be dependent upon inherited vulnerability factors.…”