Adult ADHD
Visual Abstract
Parental ADHD Symptomology and Ineffective Parenting: The Connecting Link of Home Chaos
Effects of ADHD in Parents
Irina Mokrova, Marion O'Brien, Susan Calkins, and Susan Keane
Summarized by:
June 1, 2023
study source
Parent Sci Pract.
April 2011
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What they studied
This study examined how ADHD in parents affects their parenting and their home environment.
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What they found
ADHD in parents were linked to more chaotic homes and deficits in parenting, including consistent discipline and emotional support.
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What this means
ADHD can affect how adults perform as parents and in their homes.
Parental ADHD Symptomology and Ineffective Parenting: The Connecting Link of Home Chaos
Objectives
ADHD is one of the most common psychiatric conditions among children. It is also increasingly recognized and diagnosed among adults.
The study wanted to see how having ADHD affects parenting. While ADHD is typically studying, in the context of work and school, parenting can be just as challenging, requiring attention and focus.
Study Quote
This study examines links between maternal and paternal ADHD symptoms and parenting practices that require inhibition of impulses, sustained attention, and consistency; the role of home chaos in these associations is also assessed.
Methods
This study surveyed mothers and fathers about their ADHD symptoms, parenting practices, and home chaos.
Researchers also evaluated ADHD symptoms in children through teachers’ assessments.
Study Quote
ADHD symptoms, the level of home chaos, and parenting practices (involvement, inconsistent discipline, supportive and non-supportive responses to children's negative emotions, and positive parenting) were assessed through self-reports of 311 mothers and 149 fathers of middle-childhood ch...
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Results
Overall, the results showed that ADHD in either the mother or father contributes to a more chaotic home environment for children.
For mothers, ADHD symptoms were linked to inconsistent discipline of their children and less support for their children’s negative emotions.
These negatively affected the home environment for their children:
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Mothers with higher ADHD symptoms appear to have more difficulties in organizing a home environment that is conducive to effective parenting, and chaos in the home was linked to inconsistent discipline and non-supportive responses to children's negative emotions.
Fathers with ADHD also practiced inconsistent discipline in their parenting, with less support for their children’s negative emotions.
They were also less involved in parenting:
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Home chaos also mediated the association between fathers' ADHD symptoms and their level of involvement with their children and moderated the association between fathers' ADHD symptoms and inconsistent discipline. Under conditions of high home chaos, fathers as a group reported relatively high levels of inconsistent discipline. However, when home chaos was low, only those fathers who had higher levels of ADHD symptoms were inconsistent in their discipline.
Study Quote
Mothers reported higher home chaos when they or their children had higher levels of ADHD symptoms; for fathers, only their own ADHD symptoms predicted higher levels of home chaos. Mothers' ADHD symptoms were positively associated with inconsistent discipline and non-supportive responses ...
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Conclusions
Based on the results, the authors concluded that ADHD in adults negatively affects parenting for both mothers and fathers. It can lead to more chaotic and disorganized homes for children.
Study Quote
Effectiveness of specific parenting practices for both mothers and fathers may be compromised in parents with ADHD symptoms. In certain cases, parental ADHD symptoms translate into ineffective parenting through disorganized homes.