Does Child Temperament Play a Role in the Association Between Parenting Practices and Child Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?

Josie M Ullsperger; Joel T Nigg; Molly A Nikolas

doi:10.1007/s10802-015-9982-1

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Does Child Temperament Play a Role in the Association Between Parenting Practices and Child Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Does Child Temperament Play a Role in the Association Between Parenting Practices and Child Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?

Josie M Ullsperger, Joel T Nigg and Molly A Nikolas

Journal of abnormal child psychology, Vol.44(1), pp.167-178

01/2016

DOI: 10.1007/s10802-015-9982-1

PMCID: PMC4539284

PMID: 25684446

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http://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-9982-1View

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Abstract

Ineffective parenting practices may maintain or exacerbate attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and shape subsequent development of disruptive behavior disorders (DBD's) in youth with ADHD. Recent theoretical models have suggested that parenting may exert effects on ADHD via its role in child temperament. The current study aimed to evaluate the indirect effects of parenting dimensions on child ADHD symptoms via child temperament. Youth ages 6-17 years (N = 498; 50.4 % ADHD, 55 % male) completed a multi-stage, multi-informant assessment that included parent, child, and teacher report measures of parenting practices, child temperament, and ADHD symptoms. Statistical models examined the direct and indirect effects of maternal and paternal involvement, poor supervision, and inconsistent discipline on inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity via child temperament and personality traits. Results indicated differential patterns of effect for negative and positive parenting dimensions. First, inconsistent discipline exerted indirect effects on both ADHD symptom dimensions via child conscientiousness, such that higher levels of inconsistency predicted lower levels of conscientiousness, which in turn, predicted greater ADHD symptomatology. Similarly, poor supervision also exerted indirect effects on inattention via child conscientiousness as well as significant indirect effects on hyperactivity-impulsivity via its impact on both child reactive control and conscientiousness. In contrast, primarily direct effects of positive parenting (i.e., involvement) on ADHD emerged. Secondary checks revealed that similar pathways may also emerge for comorbid disruptive behavior disorders. Current findings extend upon past work by examining how parenting practices influence child ADHD via with-in child mechanisms and provide support for multi-pathway models accounting for heterogeneity in the disorder.

Attention - physiology

Psychiatric Status Rating Scales

Parenting - psychology

Humans

Adolescent

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - psychology

Female

Male

Parent-Child Relations

Child

Temperament

Details

Title: Subtitle: Does Child Temperament Play a Role in the Association Between Parenting Practices and Child Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?
Creators: Josie M Ullsperger - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA. josie-ullsperger@uiowa.edu
Joel T Nigg - Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA
Molly A Nikolas - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of abnormal child psychology, Vol.44(1), pp.167-178
DOI: 10.1007/s10802-015-9982-1
PMID: 25684446
PMCID: PMC4539284
NLM abbreviation: J Abnorm Child Psychol
ISSN: 0091-0627
eISSN: 1573-2835
Publisher: United States
Grant note: R37 MH059105 / NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH070004 / NIMH NIH HHS R01-MH070004-01A2 / NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH059105 / NIMH NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 01/2016
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Injury Prevention Research Center
Record Identifier: 9984002438502771

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