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Testing the interactive effect of parent and child ADHD on parenting in mothers and fathers: A further test of the similarity‐fit hypothesis
Author(s) -
Psychogiou Lamprini,
Daley Dave,
Thompson Margaret,
SonugaBarke Edmund
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1348/026151006x170281
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , similarity (geometry) , association (psychology) , test (biology) , population , clinical psychology , paleontology , demography , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science , image (mathematics) , psychotherapist , biology
Mother and child ADHD symptoms both have a negative effect on parenting. Little is known about how these characteristics interact. In a recent paper, we reported two studies that suggested that maternal ADHD ameliorated the negative effects of child ADHD on negative parenting supporting a similarity‐fit hypothesis . The aim of the current paper is to extend this analysis to a sample of mothers and fathers. The study examined the association between child and adult ADHD symptoms on child‐specific parenting practices in 278 mothers and 85 fathers from a population‐based sample of school‐age children. As in the previous study, high levels of ADHD symptoms in mothers ameliorated the negative effects of child ADHD on parenting – supporting the similarity‐fit hypothesis . Fathers demonstrated the opposite effect with high levels of ADHD exacerbating the effects of child ADHD – supporting a similarity‐misfit hypothesis . The study confirms the important role played by parental ADHD symptoms in parenting while highlighting differences between mothers and fathers in this regard.