INTRODUCTION

METHODS

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

§ Attention-deficit/hyperactivitydisorder(ADHD)ischaracterizedbyinattention,hyperactivity,andimpulsivitythatimpairdailyfunctioning(AmericanPsychiatricAssociation,APA,2013).Approximately5-11%ofschool-agedchildrenintheUnitedStateshavebeendiagnosedwithADHD(APA,2013;CentersforDiseaseControl,2011).

§ ChildrenwithADHDexhibitdeficitsinsocialfunctioning(Maedgen &Carlson,2000),haveimpairedrelationshipswiththeirpeers(Hoza etal.,2005),scoresignificantlylowerinacademicachievement(Latimeretal.,2003),andhaveanincreasedriskofsuspensionandexpulsionfromschoolcomparedtochildrenwithoutADHD(Martin,2014).Additionally,childrenwithADHDfrequentlyexhibitexternalizingbehaviorproblems(Kuja-Halkola,Lichtenstein,D'Onofrio,&Larsson,2015),and27%haveacomorbiddiagnosisofconductdisorder(Larson,Russ,Kahn,&Halfon,2011).

§ ResearchhasdemonstratedthatcaregiversofchildrenwithADHDhavepoorerparentingpracticeswhencomparedtocaregiversoftypicallydevelopingchildren(e.g.,Johnston&Mash,2001).Thiscanbeespeciallyproblematic,asnegativeparentingandconductproblemsmayhaveabidirectionalrelationinfamiliesofachildwithADHD(e.g.,Johnston&Mash,2001).

§ Forexample,studieshavefoundthatnegativeparentingpracticescanpredictconductproblemsovertime(e.g.,August,Realmuto,Joyce,&Hektner,1999).Additionally,thepresenceofchildconductproblemshasbeenshowntoincreasenegativeparentingbehaviors(Pardini,Fite,&Burke,2008).Further,negativeparentingmayinteractwithchildren’sADHDsymptomstoputthematgreaterriskforconductproblems(Loeber,Green,Lahey,Frick,&McBurnett,2000),

§ However,therelationsbetweenADHDsymptoms,conductproblems,andparentingpracticesstillremainunclear,andfurtherresearchisneededtobetterunderstandhowfamilyfactorsinfluencebothADHDandconductproblems(Johnston&Mash,2001).Toaddressthisissue,thepresentstudyevaluatedthethree-wayinteractionamongADHDsymptoms,negativeparenting,andpositiveparentingpredictingconductproblems.

§ Asexpected,negativeparentingpredicteduniquevarianceinchildconductproblems,withelevatedlevelsofnegativeparentingpredictingmoresevereconductproblems.Positiveparentingpredictedanamountofvarianceapproachingsignificance,withelevatedlevelsofpositiveparentingpredictinglowerlevelsofconductproblems.AlthoughADHDsymptomsweresignificantlycorrelatedwithconductproblems,itdidnotpredictuniquevarianceinthismodelconsideringotherpredictors.

§ TheinteractionbetweennegativeparentingandADHDsymptomswasnonsignificant.TherewasasignificantinteractionbetweenpositiveparentingandADHDsymptomswithconductproblemsbeinglowerwhenADHDsymptomswerelowerregardlessofpositiveparenting.However,whenADHDsymptomswerehigher,conductproblemswerelowerifpositiveparentingwashigher.

§ Theinteractionbetweennegativeandpositiveparentingapproachedsignificancewithconductproblemstendingtobehighestwithhighernegativeparentingandlowerpositiveparenting,andconductproblemstendingtobelowestwithlowernegativeparentingandhigherpositiveparenting.

§ Thethree-wayinteractionamongADHDsymptoms,negativeparenting,andpositiveparentingwasnonsignificant.Overall,resultssuggesttheimportanceofparentingbehaviorsonchildconductproblems,forchildrenwithandwithoutADHDsymptoms.

§ ThisstudywaslimitedbyitsrelianceonparentreportforchildADHDsymptomsandconductproblems.Studiesshouldincludebehavioralobservationsforchildreninadditiontostandardassessments,asbehavioralobservationsareconsideredthestandardforobjectivityinbehavioralresearch(Pelham,Fabiano,&Massetti,2005).

§ Futureresearchshouldincludealargersampleofcaregiversfromamorediversebackgroundtoincreasethegeneralizabilityoftheresults.Becausethesedataarecorrelational,causalrelationsbetweenvariablescannotbeassumed.Futurestudiesshouldimplementalongitudinaldesignsotemporalsequencingofthevariablescanbedetermined,thussheddingmorelightonpotentialcausalrelations.

§ Additionally,futurestudiesshouldcontinuetodiscoverwaystodecreasenegativeparenting,asdecreasesinnegativeparentinghavebeenassociatedwithdecreasesindisruptivebehaviorforchildrenwithADHD(Chronis-Tuscano etal.,2011).

ParentingBehaviorandChildADHDSymptomsPredictingConductProblemsRebeccaA.Lindsey,StephanieSaltness,&TammyD.Barry

WashingtonStateUniversity

*p <.05,**p < .01,***p <.001

Table1.BivariateCorrelationsbetweenParentingXXXBehaviors,ChildADHDSymptoms,andChildConductProblems

§ PositiveparentingwasnegativelycorrelatedwithADHDsymptoms,r =-.27,p=.04,conductproblems, r =-.32,p=.01,andnegativeparenting, r =-.29,p =.03.NegativeparentingwaspositivelycorrelatedwithADHDsymptoms,r =.45,p<.001,andconductproblems, r =.44,p<.001.ADHDsymptomsandconductproblemswerepositivelycorrelated,r =.46,p<.001(Table1).

§ Athree-wayinteractionmodelwithADHDsymptoms,negativeparenting,andpositiveparentingpredictingchildconductproblemswastested.Theoverallmodelaccountedforastatisticallysignificantamountvarianceinchildconductproblems,R2 =.41,F (7,51)=5.00,p =.0002(Table2).

§ Therewasamaineffectfornegativeparenting,b=3.95,SE=1.45,p=.009,butnotforADHDsymptoms,b=.18,SE=.18,p=.32.Themaineffectforpositiveparentingapproachedsignificance,b=-6.38,SE=3.28,p=.06(Table2).

§ TherewasnointeractionbetweennegativeparentingandADHDsymptoms,b=.05,SE=.12,p=.67.TherewasasignificantinteractionbetweenpositiveparentingandADHDsymptoms,b=-.75,SE=.30,p=.02(Table2; plottedinFigure1).Theinteractionbetweenpositiveparentingandnegativeparentingapproachedsignificance,b=4.10,SE=2.18,p=.07(Table2;plottedinFigure2).

§ Thethree-wayinteractionwasnotsignificant,b=.24,SE=.30,p=.44(Table2).

Table2.ResultsofModeratedMultipleRegressionofChildADHDSymptomsandParentingBehaviorsPredictingChildConductProblems

Note.R2 andR2∆forinteractionmodelareshowninbold.Unstandardized regressioncoefficientsarereportedforeachpredictor.Standarderrorsareshowninparentheses.*p <.05.***p <.001.† Trend;p<.10.

PositiveParenting

NegativeParenting

ADHDSymptoms

ConductProblems

PositiveParenting ---

NegativeParenting -.29* ---

ADHDSymptoms -.27* .45*** ---

ConductProblems -.32** .44*** .46*** ---

Predictors ChildConductProblems

InteractionModelR2 5.00***InteractionModelR2∆ .03ChildADHDSymptoms .18(0.18)NegativeParenting 3.95(1.45)***PositiveParenting -6.38(3.28) †ChildADHDSymptomsXNegativeParenting .05(0.12)ChildADHDSymptomsXPositiveParenting -.75(0.30)*PositiveParentingXNegativeParenting 4.10(2.18) †ChildADHDSymptomsXNegativeParentingXPositiveParenting .24(0.30)

Figure1.ReducedRegressionModelwithChildADHDSymptomsPredictingChildConductProblemsatDifferentLevelsofPositiveParenting

Figure2.ReducedRegressionModelwithNegativeParentingPredictingChildConductProblemsatDifferentLevelsofPositiveParenting

Participants§ Participantswere59caregivers(56females,3males)andtheir59children(25females,34males).Caregivers

wereages24to68years(M =38.11;SD =8.32).§ Childrenwereages8to13years(M =10.53;SD =1.22),andthemajoritywereidentifiedasEuropeanAmerican

(67.8%)andAfricanAmerican(30.2%).

Measures§ Caregiverscompletedabatteryofassessmentsincluding:

§ DSM-IVADHDChecklist– ParentForm,adaptedfromtheDiagnosticandStatisticalManualofMentalDisorders(DSM-IV;AmericanPsychiatricAssociation,1994).Thischecklistincludesalistofthenineinattentionsymptomsandtheninehyperactivity-impulsivitysymptomsofADHD.

§ BehaviorAssessmentSystemforChildren- ParentRatingScale(BASC-PRS;Reynolds&Kamphaus,1992).TheBASC-PRSisanomnibusratingscaledesignedtotakeabroadsamplingofachild’sbehavior.Caregiversratehowoftentheyobservethechildengaginginvariousbehaviorsona4-pointscale,rangingfrom“never”to“always.”TheConductProblemsSubscaleT-scorewasusedastheoutcomevariable.

§ AlabamaParentingQuestionnaire(APQ;Sheltonetal.,1996).TheAPQisa42-itemmeasurewhichassessesthefrequencyofthefollowingparentingpractices:ParentalInvolvement,PositiveParenting,PoorMonitoring/Supervision,InconsistentDiscipline,andCorporalPunishment.Itemsareratedona5-pointscale,rangingfrom1(never)to5(always).§ ThePositiveParentingdomainwasusedtomeasurepositiveparenting.ThePoor

Monitoring/Supervision,InconsistentDiscipline,andCorporalPunishmentdomainswerecombinedtocreateanegativeparentingvariable.

Procedures§ ThisprojectwasapprovedandconductedincompliancewiththeUniversityInstitutionalReviewBoard.

ParticipantswerepartofalargerstudyinvestigatingADHDsymptomatologyandaggression.§ Caregiversreadtheinformedconsentletterpriortoparticipation.Theyreceived$20fortheirparticipationinthe

study ascompensationfortheirtime.

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Low ADHD High ADHD

Cond

uct P

robl

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Low Positive Parenting

High Positive Parenting

b =.69, SE =.20,p =.001

b =.24, SE =.22,p =.27

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Low Negative Parenting High Negative Parenting

Cond

uct P

robl

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Low Positive Parenting

High Positive Parenting

b =2.18, SE =1.91,p =.26

b =6.37, SE =1.84,p =.001