| Research indicates that children with symptoms of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, in combination with oppositional and aggressive symptoms, have parents with increased levels of stress. Parent stress in such cases is significantly correlated with parenting behavior (Baker & Heller, 1996; DuPaul, McGoey, Eckert, & VanBrakle, 2001; Podolski & Nigg, 2001). Studies examining the relationship between oppositional and aggressive symptoms and parenting behavior have, for the most part, generally employed correlational designs and have focused on older children. Children with ADHD have generally not been included in these correlational studies. The present study focused on preschool-aged children who exhibited symptoms of ADHD and examined the mediational relationships between parenting behaviors, child behaviors, and parenting stress using structural equation modeling (SEM). Specifically, it was hypothesized that (a) parenting stress would mediate the relationship of parenting behavior to child behavior, (b) child behavior would mediate the relationship of parenting stress to parenting behaviors, and (c) parenting behavior would mediate the relationship of child behavior to parenting stress.; The present study was conducted as a part of Project Achieve, an NIMH-funded grant (RO1- MH61563), designed to provide early intervention services to preschool-aged children exhibiting symptoms of ADHD and their families. One hundred and thirty-two families completed the Parental Stress Index- Short Form (Abidin, 1995) and in-home observations of child and parenting behaviors. Results did not support the proposed mediational hypotheses or the SEM model. The study findings suggested, however, a bi-directional relationship between parenting behavior and child behavior---i.e. parenting behavior predicted child behavior and child behavior predicted parenting behavior. This finding is consistent with previous research (Cohen & Brook, 1995; Kandel & Wu, 1995; Reid, Patterson, & Snyder, 2002). The finding that parenting stress did not mediate the relationship between parenting behavior and child behavior was unexpected, because previous research found strong correlational relationships between parenting stress and parenting behavior (Nick & Kazdin, 2002; Podolski & Nigg, 2001). |
