Abstract
Objectives
This study examined the relative contribution of parental Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and depression symptoms to the parenting stress of mothers and fathers of adolescents with ADHD.
Methods
The sample comprised 83 families with adolescents 13 to 18-years of age (48 with ADHD, 35 without ADHD). Parents provided ratings of parenting stress and their own ADHD and depression symptoms by completing standardized self-report rating scales. Two domains of parenting stress were investigated: Stress in relation to adolescent behaviors and parent-adolescent relationships (Adolescent-Focused Stress domain; AFS), and stress involving the impact of the adolescent on parental roles, relationships with others and sense of competence (Parent-Focused Stress domain; PFS).
Results
In addition to adolescent ADHD status, mothers’ ADHD and depression symptoms were predictors of maternal AFS (R2 = 0.51, F = 24.50, p < 0.001). Only maternal depression predicted mothers’ PFS (R2 = 0.37, F = 12.11, p < 0.001). Paternal AFS was predicted by adolescent ADHD status (R2 = 0.25, F=4.81, p < 0.01). Paternal PFS was predicted by fathers’ depression symptoms and by mothers’ ADHD symptoms (R2 = 0.30, F = 4.42, p < 0.01).
Conclusions
These findings suggest that mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress is associated with their adolescent children’s ADHD symptoms and their own depression symptoms. Mothers’ ADHD symptoms are also associated with their own AFS and fathers’ parenting stress.
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Author Contributions
D.B. designed and executed the study, analyzed the data, and wrote the first draft of the paper. J.W. obtained funding for the study, collaborated in the design of the study and writing of the paper, and edited the final manuscript. R.M. contributed to the statistical analysis.
Funding
This study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Protocol Number 410-2010-1763).
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All procedures in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee. The Social Sciences, Humanities and Education Research Ethics Board of the University of Toronto provided IRB approval for the study.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Biondic, D., Wiener, J. & Martinussen, R. Parental Psychopathology and Parenting Stress in Parents of Adolescents with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. J Child Fam Stud 28, 2107–2119 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01430-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01430-8