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Parent and Family Characteristics and Their Associates in a Follow-Up of Outpatient Children with ADHD

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Abstract

We examined associations between child symptoms, demographic variables, parent and family characteristics in a long-term follow-up study of 214 outpatient children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The children’s mean age was 12.6 (SD = 2.1) years, and the mean interval from diagnosis to follow-up was 3.7 (SD = 2.2) years. We compared the characteristics of the clinical group with a community group (n = 110) recruited from the same catchment area. Parents filled out questionnaires on child symptoms, parent characteristics, and family functioning. The results showed that parents of young boys (<13 years) experienced more parenting stressors than those of adolescent boys (≥13 years), but the opposite was true for parents of girls. Parents of children with both ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms in the clinical range experienced significantly more parent and family dysfunctions than those of children with ADHD only (even after controlling for levels of ADHD symptoms in the child). Parents of children in the community group experienced significantly less parent and family dysfunctions than those of children with ADHD. Partial correlations between parent characteristics and child symptoms showed that oppositional symptoms were most strongly associated with parent and family dysfunction. Fathers experienced significantly less parenting stress, parental efficacy, and child involvement than mothers. We conclude that parents of children with ADHD experienced considerable strain related to a broad range of parent and family characteristics. Assessment of such characteristics should be part of routine assessment procedures and a prerequisite for family-focused treatment of children with ADHD.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to the parents who participated in the study, and to the staff at the outpatient clinics and the schools who made the study possible.

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We certify that no funding has been received for the conduct of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Kristiansund Hospital, Møre and Romsdal Health Trust, Hermann Døhlensv.1, 6508, Kristiansund, Norway

    Henrik Sollie

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Henrik Sollie & Bo Larsson

  3. The Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Willy-Tore Mørch

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  1. Henrik Sollie
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Correspondence to Henrik Sollie.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Sollie, H., Mørch, WT. & Larsson, B. Parent and Family Characteristics and Their Associates in a Follow-Up of Outpatient Children with ADHD. J Child Fam Stud 25, 2571–2584 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0411-z

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