The psychosocial functioning of the families of clinic-referred adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was evaluated in two studies. Study 1 examined the psychiatric and psychological difficulties of married adults with ADHD and their spouses, with a focus on the quality of their marital adjustment and family functioning. Study 2 focused on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders, the psychological functioning, and the social functioning of children with ADHD parents. / Results revealed that married adults with ADHD had higher rates of comorbid psychiatric disorders and more psychological distress than non-ADHD control adults. The spouses of adults with ADHD did not differ in rates of psychiatric disorders from the control spouses, however, they reported significantly higher levels of current psychological distress. Greater marital and family dysfunction were reported by adults with ADHD than control adults. The spouses of ADHD adults, however, did not report greater marital and family dysfunction than the spouses of controls. / The children of ADHD adults were found to be at high risk for ADHD. Forty-three percent of the children met DSM-IV criteria for the disorder. The children with ADHD were found to have higher rates of comorbid disorders, more psychological difficulties, and significantly poorer social functioning than the control children. The non-ADHD children of ADHD adults were not found to differ from control children on these measures. Having a parent without a psychiatric disorder in the home was found to have a protective effect on behavior problems in the non-ADHD children. / Together, these studies suggest that evaluating the functioning of family members and the health of the family relationships are important when assessing clinic-referred adults with ADHD. These results suggest that involving family members in the therapeutic process may be beneficial.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.36920 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Eakin, Laurel. |
| Contributors | Koestner, Richard (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001810899, proquestno: NQ70013, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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