Mediating role of emotion regulation between ADHD children’s adjustment and parents’ well-being

Abstract

<p>Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neuro-developmental disorders in children. Approximately one-third of the children with ADHD experience emotion regulation difficulties, which can exacerbate their existing symptoms and adjustment problems. Prior research has suggested that emotion dysregulation in children with ADHD is closely associated with the psychological well-being of their parents. However, the direction and strength of the relationship between the parent-child variables and the underlying mechanism are not well understood, especially in the context of ADHD. The current study investigated the directional relationship between parents’ psychological factors and their children’s ADHD symptoms and adjustment, and the mediating role of children’s emotion regulation. Data were collected from a community sample of 98 parents in Hong Kong who had children diagnosed with or suspected of having ADHD. These parents completed a battery of questionnaires on their mental health problems, emotion regulation difficulties, parenting stress, and their children’s ADHD symptoms, adjustment problems, and emotion regulation difficulties. The results of structural equation modelling analyses revealed that children’s ADHD symptoms and adjustment significantly predicted their emotion dysregulation, which in turn predicted the emotion dysregulation and mental health problems of the parents and their parenting stress. The model fit remained good even after controlling for age, gender, and the use of ADHD medications. However, the competing model, which tested the opposite direction of prediction, did not show an adequate fit. Overall, our findings highlighted the significant impact of children’s emotion regulation and adjustment problems on their parents’ psychological well-being. Improving emotion dysregulation in children with ADHD might not only improve their symptoms and adjustment but also enhance their parents’ psychological well-being. Learning adaptive emotion regulation strategies could be a crucial component of future interventions for children with ADHD.</p><p><br></p>