Household chaos makes bringing up children with ADHD more difficult
"We assumed that the parents of children with ADHD found it difficult to maintain a structured family life and daily routines due to their children's symptoms. In turn, household chaos has an adverse effect on emotional climate and parents' behaviour," explains Dr. Andrea Wirth, research associate at the Department of Educational Psychology of Goethe University Frankfurt. The data of 84 children aged between 7 and 13 years was included in the study, of which 31 children were assigned to the ADHD group and 53 to the control group. Parental behaviour was assessed using a standardized questionnaire , which asked to what extent the parents looked after their children, praised or criticized them, how consistent they were in their parenting and whether they resorted to physical punishment. In order to document the emotional climate in the family, the psychologists asked one of the parents to talk about his or her child for five minutes and describe the child's pers...