Parental Stress in Raising a Child with ADHD

This paper investigates how stress in parents is affected by their child's Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this paper is to identify common stressors for parents of children with ADHD, as well as to determine what parents need from healthcare providers to mediate this stress. A survey was developed to identify sources of stress, consequences of parental stress, parental coping methods, resources provided by their healthcare provider that have been helpful, along with what they feel that they need from their healthcare providers in order to better support themselves and their family. Participants were composed of members of Facebook support groups for parents of children with ADHD. Major findings of this study include: parents experience the most stress when dealing with their child's oppositional and aggressive behaviors; parents frequently experience disruption in their marital relationship; and parents perceive that they receive little health care resources that are helpful for themselves, their child, and their family overall.