ADHD and Maternal Resiliency: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Ca ...

The purpose of the present study is to examine the influence of having an ADHD child as compared to a non-ADHD child on maternal well-being and to assess whether there are differences between Canadian and American mothers. Additionally, this research explores the various ways in which social support and characteristics of the mother and child serve to moderate the effects of ADHD. Given that Canadian mothers have access to cost-free medical services (at point of service), they may place fewer strains on informal sources of social support and be better equipped to cope with the associated difficulties of raising an ADHD child. Although several researchers have investigated the relationship between maternal stress and the occurrence of ADHD, this is the first study to systematically explore the differing effects of social support, problematic behavior, and medication use by the child on the well-being experienced by mothers.

This research also attempts to fill the void in sociological and cross-cultural comparative research of families with ADHD children. Most research concerning ADHD is based on small, clinically referred samples, often without sufficient comparison or controls. To date, few studies have attempted to explore the influence of ADHD with nationally representative data such as the 2001 U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the 2000–2001 National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) utilized in this research. Clinically referred mothers and children obviously differ from the mothers and children sampled here. This study is also one of the few that has examined the effects of having an ADHD child from a cross-cultural perspective and the first to use Canadian and American data. By focusing on varying levels of problematic behavior and the influence of social support, this research makes a significant contribution to our knowledge in the areas of social work and family counseling by building upon existing seminal research in the areas of sociology, psychology, biology, and psychiatry.