ADHD Takes a Heavy Toll on Family Relationships

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children not only poses significant challenges for the children themselves, but new research shows that it can also exact a significant toll on their families.

Two new studies report that having a child with ADHD doubles the likelihood of divorce, and ADHD has a significant negative impact on family routines and relationships.

In the first study to compare the durability of marriages of parents of children with or without ADHD and to identify divorce risk factors in this group, investigators at the State University of New York at Buffalo found that by the time children with ADHD are 8 years old, their parents are twice as likely to be divorced as parents of other children.

"This work highlights the importance of considering the whole family when you are treating a child with ADHD and not just treating the child and the symptoms," senior author William E. Pelham, Jr., PhD, told Medscape Psychiatry.

Parents need tools to learn how to cope with the stresses of having a child with ADHD, he added. In addition to treating the child, clinicians must ensure that parents get any needed behavioral parent training.

The study was published in the October issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

-From: “ADHD Takes a Heavy Toll on Family Relationships”, Marlene Busko, Medscape Psychiatry, November 04, 2008 at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/582864?src=mp&spon=12&uac=21416FZ.

11/08