Relations between parenting practices and offspring behaviors for fathers with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorders

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition typically diagnosed in childhood. Research reveals that the core symptoms of ADHD may persist into adulthood, and thereby influence parenting practices and their effects on offspring problem behaviors. My purpose for this study was to identify differences in father reports on parenting practices and progeny behaviors. I examined data from a longitudinal study of 105 eligible fathers diagnosed with minimal brain dysfunction (now labeled as ADHD) as boys. All 105 fathers reported on their parenting behaviors, and 83 of those fathers reported on the problem behaviors of 83 of the youngest biological offspring. I found that, compared to the unaffected father groups, permissive parenting practices were more characteristic of those fathers with residual symptoms of ADHD if those affected fathers had 13 or fewer years of education. Father reports of offspring with internalizing symptoms also were more characteristic of those fathers with residual ADHD symptoms compared to the other father groups with Full Scale Intelligence Quotient scores of 89 or below. Finally, no conclusive evidence was found to indicate that offspring problem behaviors differed with other father characteristics and self-reported parenting behaviors. The results of this study may inform decisions clinicians make in structuring effective behavioral interventions to increase father involvement, improve parenting practices, and reduce progeny maladaptive behaviors.