The Effects of Parental ADHD Symptoms on Parenting Behaviors

Abstract

Adults suffering from attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD) often display high levels of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. These symptoms might interfere with skills that are necessary for optimal parenting such as consequent and emotionally responsive behavior towards the child. Therefore, the present review aims at investigating how parental ADHD symptoms influence parenting, thereby including specific parental behaviors of both effective behavior control and emotional responsiveness. In order to identify eligible studies, a systematic search was conducted. Studies were included in this review if at least some of the investigated parents suffered from ADHD or heightened ADHD symptoms, and if the studies focused on specific parenting behaviors as outcome measures. 14 studies yielded the inclusion criteria. Across studies, parental ADHD symptoms were negatively associated with consistent discipline, parental involvement and positive parenting, and positively associated with lax and over-reactive parenting, intrusiveness and negative emotions. The core symptom of inattention had stronger negative effects on parenting than impulsivity and hyperactivity. Across studies, the gender of parents had inconsistent effects. All in all, the present review shows that parental ADHD is associated with serious impairments in parenting. Therefore, parents with ADHD should be specially addressed and trained in the context of children ADHD treatment.

Parenting an Autistic Child: Experiences of Parents with Significant Autistic Traits

“…"all you want to do is sit in a corner going 'No I can't do it'" and "I end up shouting at him…which makes it worse…which then makes me worse"). This mirrors some ADHD literature, where parents with ADHD have been shown to struggle more than parents without ADHD to be consistent and positive when parenting their child with ADHD (Friedrich et al, 2017).…”

The Impact of School Strategies and the Home Environment on Home Learning Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Children With and Without Developmental Disorders

“…DD in parents may have a significant impact on the richness or nature of the home environment. In families with a parent with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms, for instance, there is likely to be more chaos, less monitoring of child-behaviour and higher inconsistency in parental behaviour (Friedrich et al, 2017 ; Johnston et al, 2012 ), which in turn is associated with lower academic performance in children (Ackerman & Brown, 2010 ). Parents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) furthermore experience more difficulties in supporting their children with problems they also experience themselves, such as social and communication difficulties.…”

Association of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms of Parents with Parental Attitudes

“…When the literature was examined, it was seen that mostly only mothers were evaluated in studies examining parents' ADHD symptoms and parental attitudes (10,14,30,33,34). Our study is one of the few studies that evaluated the ADHD symptom levels of mothers and fathers separately (13,15,(35)(36)(37)(38). A study conducted with 109 of the mothers and fathers of children with an age range of 2-12 followed by the diagnosis of ADHD found no significant difference between the level of ADHD symptoms and parental attitudes of parents (39).…”