Parents raising children with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience high levels of parenting stress, especially when ADHD is accompanied by comorbid Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ADHD/ODD). Children with ADHD experience difficulties with their executive functions in such areas as inhibition control, working memory, and emotional regulation. Despite evidence linking ADHD with parenting stress, and ADHD with executive function difficulties (EFDs), there is little research exploring whether EFDs within an ADHD population are associated with parenting stress. This dissertation’s main objective is to determine whether parent-reported and teacher-reported childhood EFDs are associated with elevated levels of parenting stress. A secondary data analysis was completed on a cross-section of parent and teacher completed psychiatric assessment measures for children (n=243) diagnosed with ADHD. Measures included the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, the Conners’ Parent Rating Scale and the Parenting Stress Index, Long Form. A number of important findings were produced; key of which was the finding that a strong association exists between parent-reported EFDs and Child Domain parenting stress. Consistent with prior ADHD research, difficulties with emotional control and inhibition were found to be potent predictors of Child Domain parenting stress. To a lesser degree, children’s difficulties with initiation and self-monitoring were associated with Child Domain parenting stress, suggesting that daily hassles pose challenges for parents, especially when the child attends a new school. Also important was the finding that parent-reported oppositionality partially mediated the relationship between EFDs with emotional control, inhibition and shift, and Child Domain parenting stress. Despite teachers’ reports that children displayed more severe behaviours than were reported by parents, teacher-reported EFDs were not significantly associated with Child Domain parenting stress, with a few exceptions. Although not a well-explored concept within the literature on ADHD and parenting stress, parental acceptance of the child emerged as source of Child Domain parenting stress and a potential focus for assessment and treatment. Findings from the current study suggest that early identification and intervention with emotional control difficulties and ODD are vital due to their strong association with clinically significant levels of Child Domain parenting stress.

Parents raising children with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience high levels of parenting stress, especially when ADHD is accompanied by comorbid Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ADHD/ODD). Children with ADHD experience difficulties with their executive functions in such areas as inhibition control, working memory, and emotional regulation. Despite evidence linking ADHD with parenting stress, and ADHD with executive function difficulties (EFDs), there is little research exploring whether EFDs within an ADHD population are associated with parenting stress. This dissertation’s main objective is to determine whether parent-reported and teacher-reported childhood EFDs are associated with elevated levels of parenting stress. A secondary data analysis was completed on a cross-section of parent and teacher completed psychiatric assessment measures for children (n=243) diagnosed with ADHD. Measures included the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, the Conners’ Parent Rating Scale and the Parenting Stress Index, Long Form. A number of important findings were produced; key of which was the finding that a strong association exists between parent-reported EFDs and Child Domain parenting stress. Consistent with prior ADHD research, difficulties with emotional control and inhibition were found to be potent predictors of Child Domain parenting stress. To a lesser degree, children’s difficulties with initiation and self-monitoring were associated with Child Domain parenting stress, suggesting that daily hassles pose challenges for parents, especially when the child attends a new school. Also important was the finding that parent-reported oppositionality partially mediated the relationship between EFDs with emotional control, inhibition and shift, and Child Domain parenting stress. Despite teachers’ reports that children displayed more severe behaviours than were reported by parents, teacher-reported EFDs were not significantly associated with Child Domain parenting stress, with a few exceptions. Although not a well-explored concept within the literature on ADHD and parenting stress, parental acceptance of the child emerged as source of Child Domain parenting stress and a potential focus for assessment and treatment. Findings from the current study suggest that early identification and intervention with emotional control difficulties and ODD are vital due to their strong association with clinically significant levels of Child Domain parenting stress.

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera och beskriva fenomenet -flickor med ADHD. I studien undersöks professionella behandlares upplevelser kring fenomenet flickor med ADHD, utifrån de flickor de mött under sitt yrkespraktiserande och uppmärksamma orsaker som lyfts fram för att förklara varför flickor med ADHD upptäcks mer sällan och i många fall senare än pojkar med ADHD och vilka konsekvenser detta kan leda till. Denna kandidatuppsats har genomförts med kvalitativ metod genom intervjuer med tre professionella behandlare som i sitt dagliga arbete möter flickor som fått diagnosen ADHD. Den tidigare forskningen som tas upp i studien syftar till att ge läsaren en inblick i och förståelse för vad en ADHD- diagnos innebär och hur diskussionerna kring ADHD ser ut i dagsläget. Analysen av det insamlade materialet utgår från tre teoretiska inriktningar. Dessa är Antonovskys teori om KASAM, stigma-/ stämplingsteorin och diagnossociologin. Studien fann att det är viktigt för flickorna som lever med ADHD att uppmärksammas i ett tidigt skede för att kunna lära sig att hantera de svårigheter en ADHD-diagnos kan innebära. Chanserna för ett välfungerande liv ökar om flickan och hennes omgivning får stöd och strategier för att lära sig leva med ADHD och därmed undvika att ADHD-diagnosen blir till något negativt. Det finns mycket positivt som kan komma av en ADHD-diagnos och det vill denna studie poängtera.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a source of diagnostic and intervention confusion and uncertainty for practitioners and parents. Questions creating some of the confusion were answered in a series of three studies. The sample was parent and teacher behavioral ratings for 389 children and 502 adolescents with ADHD and 3131 children and 3161 adolescents without ADHD in public and private schools and mental health clinics in forty states. In the first study, data was derived from participant T-scores on the Behavior Assessment System for Children (2nd ed.) to evaluate the construct validity using first and second order factor analyses. Sufficient construct validity was established. In the second study, descriptive discriminant analyses (DDA) and item level ANOVAs were used to investigate whether behaviors that discriminate between the target (i.e., ADHD) and comparison groups were associated with the primary symptoms, comorbid conditions, functional impairment, or some combination of the three. Analyses were completed using subscale T-scores and individual item scores from the target and comparison groups. Results were compared to determine if the behaviors that discriminated between the groups were consistent across developmental stages and between parents and teachers as raters. Primary symptoms, comorbid conditions, and functional impairment explained the variance as rated by parents and teachers. Primary symptoms were found to be the strongest discriminators of children and adolescents as rated by parents. Atypicality explained the largest variance (72.25%) between children and learning problems explained the largest variance (64.32%) between adolescents when rated by teachers. The third study was a literature review of intervention studies to increase the academic performance of youth with ADHD in light of the statistical significance controversy. Fifty-one single subject and group design studies of academic, behavioral, multimodal and parent training were found. Both sides of the statistical significance controversy were summarized. The method of result reporting for 23 group design studies was investigated. Seventy-seven percent of the studies reported results as ?significant? with 26% reporting effect sizes. Researchers are encouraged to report effect sizes and explicitly compare results to previous studies in order to establish replicability for ease of educator interpretation.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-80). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Faculty of Education) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-91). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-91). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Graduate School, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-59).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-136).