Developmental antecedents of ADHD symptoms in middle childhood : the role of fathers’ emotionally disengaged parenting and children’s emotional underregulation

Approximately 6.1 million children in the United States are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although most studies that examine the etiology of ADHD focus on genetic aspects of disorder, research suggests that it is the interaction between biological and environmental factors that plays a key role in the development of ADHD. As the prevalence of ADHD continues to increase, it is imperative to understand the family antecedents of this disorder. Three path analysis models were conducted to examine the longitudinal influence of prenatal marital hostility and emotional disengagement on mothers and fathers’ hostile and emotionally disengaged parenting and, subsequently, children’s emotional underregulation in predicting later ADHD symptoms. The findings revealed that fathers’ emotional disengagement predicts children’s emotional underregulation and, subsequently, children’s later ADHD symptoms. Implications of this study and directions for future research are discussed