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Disentangling nature from nurture in examining the interplay between parent–child relationships, ADHD, and early academic attainment

Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is highly heritable and is associated with lower educational attainment. ADHD is linked to family adversity, including hostile parenting. Questions remain regarding the role of genetic and environmental factors underlying processes through which ADHD symptoms develop and influence academic attainment. METHOD: This study employed a parent-offspring adoption design (N = 345) to examine the interplay between genetic susceptibility to child attention problems (birth mother ADHD symptoms) and adoptive parent (mother and father) hostility on child lower academic outcomes, via child ADHD symptoms. Questionnaires assessed birth mother ADHD symptoms, adoptive parent (mother and father) hostility to child, early child impulsivity/activation, and child ADHD symptoms. The Woodcock-Johnson test was used to examine child reading and math aptitude. RESULTS: Building on a previous study (Harold et al., 2013, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(10), 1038-1046), heritable influences were found: birth mother ADHD symptoms predicted child impulsivity/activation. In turn, child impulsivity/activation (4.5 years) evoked maternal and paternal hostility, which was associated with children's ADHD continuity (6 years). Both maternal and paternal hostility (4.5 years) contributed to impairments in math but not reading (7 years), via impacts on ADHD symptoms (6 years). CONCLUSION: Findings highlight the importance of early child behavior dysregulation evoking parent hostility in both mothers and fathers, with maternal and paternal hostility contributing to the continuation of ADHD symptoms and lower levels of later math ability. Early interventions may be important for the promotion of child math skills in those with ADHD symptoms, especially where children have high levels of early behavior dysregulation.
DOI: 10.1017/s0033291719003593
Authors: R. Sellers, G. T. Harold, A. F. Smith, J. M. Neiderhiser, D. Reiss, D. Shaw, M. N. Natsuaki, A. Thapar, L. D. Leve
Institutions: University of Sussex, Cardiff University, Trinity College Dublin, Pennsylvania State University, Yale University, University of Pittsburgh, University of California, Riverside, University of Oregon
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Institutes of Health, Medical Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH Office of the Director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: G141647767, G2727686337, The Nurture Network: Promoting Young People's Mental Health in a Digital World, The Early Growth and Development Study: Family Process, Genes and School Entry, G411876017, The Nurture Network: Promoting Young People's Mental Health in a Digital World, Utilising Adoption-Based Research Designs to Examine the Interplay Between Family Relationship Processes and Child Developmental Outcomes, Gene-Environment Interplay and Development of Psychiatric Symptoms in Children, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, G8117987594, Understanding how family processes affect children's mental health: Implementing an international and interdisciplinary programme of research, G8532828549, The Early Growth and Development Study Cohort of the ECHO Program, G909829584
OpenAlex ID: W2995917533
FWCI: 1.365
Cites: 78
Cited by: 24
Related to: 10