Wymbs, B.T. and Pelham, W.E.

¶ … Wymbs, B.T. And Pelham, W.E. "Child Effects on Communication Between

Parents of Youth With and Without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity

Disorder" Abnormal Psychology Vol. 119, No. 2; (2009): 366-375.

Volumes of prior literature have established a causative correlation between marital discord or inter-parental conflict and child behavior problems or maladjustment. The researchers identified a gap in the available literature examining the inverse relationship of the effect that children with behavior problems and maladjustments have on parental communication and on the marital relationship. The study was designed to examine what, if any, the effect is on parental communication of interaction with a child manifesting behavioral problems.

Study Design, Participant Selection, Methodology, and Experimental Hypotheses

The study incorporated the use of specially-trained child confederates taught to display the typical symptoms and behaviors of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD). Study participants consisted of ninety couples who were parents of children in between the ages of 9 and 12 years of age. Fifty-one couples were parents of children with one or more of the ADHD, ODD, and CD disorders and thirty-nine couples were parents of children without any behavioral disorders. The other criteria for inclusion in the study were that the parent couples agreed to participate in the study together, had lived together for at least two years, were both actively involved in childcare with children at home, and that their children did not meet the diagnosis criteria for a developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or any other psychotic disorder.

Parent pairs were placed in situations that required them to interact with and supervise a child who exhibited typical child behavior or a child who had been trained and instructed to mimic behaviors consistent with and characteristic of children with ADHD and ODD. Parents were told only that the study pertained to co-parenting issues and they were instructed to conduct a brief conversation between them about parenting issues following their interaction with the children. Their communications among themselves after the interaction with the children were subsequently analyzed by their responses to questionnaires as well as by research assistants who were trained in coding the positive and negative elements of those conversations.

There were three experimental hypotheses:

1. Parents who interacted with confederate children exhibiting disruptive ADHD/ODD behaviors during their interactions would exhibit more negative communications and fewer positive communications with one another during and after the confederate interactions;

2. Parents who interacted with confederate children exhibiting typical (i.e. non-disruptive and non-ADHD/ODD behaviors) during their interactions would exhibit fewer negative communications and more positive communications with one another during and after the confederate interactions; and

3. Parents whose own children were ADHD or ODD would respond differently either in one direction or the other with respect to the positive and negative aspects of their communications than parents whose own children were neither ADHD, ODD, or CD.

Diagnostic Process and Testing Procedures

The ADHD, ODD, and CD diagnoses were established by a standard rating scale assessment of questionnaires filled out by one parent in each couple as well as by their child's teacher. Diagnosis was made pursuant to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition (DSM-IV) criteria for those disorders. These criteria were used both to identify parents of ADHD, ODD, and CD children and also as the basis for the specific disruptive behaviors displayed by the confederate children during the experiment.

The testing procedures consisted of instructing parent pairs to interact with the confederate children in several capacities: first, they supervised and assisted them in a play task; second, they engaged in a task while the child engaged in an unrelated task; and third, they supervised the child clean up after their play tasks. Subsequently, the parent pairs were instructed to conduct two brief conversations about parenting issues. Afterwards, the parents completed questionnaires and research assistants evaluated their communications.

Discussion of Findings and Implications