Parenting behavior and cognitions in families of children with ADHD: Child specific effects on family-wide process

This study investigated parenting within and between families of children with and without symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were 28 parents of one child with (target child) and one child without (non-affected child) ADHD symptoms (ADHD+ parents) and 31 parents of two children without ADHD symptoms (ADHD- parents). ADHD+ parents reported less parenting efficacy, greater expectations for future noncompliance, more child-centered stable attributions for noncompliance, and less child-centered stable attributions for compliance regarding their target child relative to their non-affected child. ADHD+ parents reported more negative cognitions for their target child relative to cognitions reported in ADHD- families. ADHD+ parents reported cognitions regarding their non-affected child similar to cognitions reported by ADHD- parents. Results supported a "child-specific" effect of parenting variables in families of children with ADHD symptoms.