RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: This study examined the impact of inattention, hyperactivity, and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) behaviors and gender on family life. METHOD: We created scales for the Family Experiences Inventory (FEI) in a nonclinical sample of Spaniard families with children ages 6 to 12 years (N = 369) and analyzed the perceived impact of these three behavior dimensions on family experiences. RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses indicated that ODD behaviors were uniquely correlated with Total FEI and its dimensions. Inattention was also uniquely related to higher negative Impact on School Relations and lower Positive Impact on Parents scales. Finally, gender-hyperactivity interactions indicated that boys with higher hyperactivity scores were more likely to score higher on the FEI Total, School Relations, and Siblings scales, and more likely to score lower on the Positive Impact on Parents scale than girls. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that parents perceive greater child-related impact and place greater burden from having a male child with hyperactivity. Inattention, hyperactivity, and oppositional defiant behaviors are associated with global parent-child interactive stress but the pattern of associations will vary depending upon the behavior, child gender, and context of family life examined.
Assuntos
Transtorno do Deficit de Atenção com Hiperatividade/psicologia , Transtornos de Deficit da Atenção e do Comportamento Disruptivo/psicologia , Família/psicologia , Hipercinese/psicologia , Criança , Comportamento Infantil/psicologia , Análise Fatorial , Feminino , Hispânico ou Latino/psicologia , Humanos , Modelos Lineares , Masculino , Percepção , Estresse Psicológico , Inquéritos e QuestionáriosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: The aim of this investigation was to examine the construct validity and distinctiveness of the inattentive type (IT) and combined type (CT) of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in a Latino/Hispanic sample. METHOD: A comprehensive assessment was conducted with a clinically diagnosed school-based sample of 98 children aged 6 to 11 (CT=44; IT=25; control group=29). RESULTS: Both ADHD groups were impaired on academic achievement measures, presented more ADHD-type behaviors during math and vigilance tasks, and exhibited greater internalizing symptoms. The IT group had a later onset of inattention symptoms, presented more sluggish cognitive tempo symptoms, was less prone to initiate social interactions or to be assertive and more self-controlled in social interchanges, was less likely to have externalizing behaviors, had mothers who reported less child-related family stress, and was less impaired in their adaptive functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Findings supported the construct validity of ADHD in this culturally different sample and suggested that the CT and IT represent distinct disorders.