Understanding youth with ADHD in the context of mother-child and father-child relationships: A mixed methods study

This dissertation represents a mixed methods analysis of two distinct but conceptually linked datasets broadly focused on youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), resulting in two articles. The first article utilized the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health database. The sample was constrained to those who participated in wave 3 to conduct a multigroup analysis of youth with high (n=405) and low (n=4477) ADHD symptomatology. Separate hypothesized measurement models for paternal and maternal relationship quality were tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Initial results suggested that a two-factor (mother and father relationship quality), three-indicator model provided acceptable fit across waves 1 and 2. Based on literature suggesting negative educational and substance use outcomes for youth diagnosed with ADHD, three structural models were tested for direct and reciprocal effects of maternal and paternal relationship quality on self-reported rates of youth truancy, smoking, and drinking at waves 1 and 2. Multigroup comparisons found that reports of a more positive maternal and paternal relationship quality were associated with lower rates of youth smoking and drinking at wave 2 in the non-ADHD group. Only lower levels of drinking at wave 2 were associated with a positive paternal relationship quality the in the ADHD group. These findings suggest the need for further research into the distinct contributions mothers and fathers have on protecting youth from negative outcomes.;The second article utilized a sample of 12 youth diagnosed with ADHD and their parents. Parents and youth were interviewed about their home, peer, school, and ADHD experiences using a semi-structured interview protocol. A grounded theory approach to the analysis of their separate and overlapping perspectives of the parent-child relationship suggested that, in contrast to the existing literature, youth found their parents to be warm, supportive, and caring, even when their parents were demanding, lax, or stressed. Analyses also suggested that parents and children frequently conceptualized their experiences of ADHD in relation to what was "normal" and what was not. Reflections on the strengths and resiliencies of ADHD families are offered, as are recommendations for future mixed method studies that allow parent and child perspectives to be considered in tandem.