Child Psychopathology and Parenting Stress in Girls and Boys Having Attention Deficit Disorder With Hyperactivity

The present study examined the extent to which girls with attentiondeficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) differed from ADDHboys, non-ADDH clinic-referred girls, and normal girls in parentratings of child psychopathology and parenting stress. ADDHgirls were rated as being more depressed and hyperactive thanADDH boys. However, there were no significant differences betweenADDH boys and girls on any of the 17 scales of the ParentingStress Index. Comparisons among the three groups of girls indicatedthat ADDH girls and non-ADDH clinic-referred girls did not differfrom each other on most dimensions of psychopathology but wererated as more deviant than normal girls on virtually all suchdimensions. Both ADDH and non-ADDH clinic-referred girls posedgreater stress for their mothers, and their mothers reportedgreater family and personal distress than the mothers of normalgirls. Only the mothers of non-ADDH clinic girls showed higherratings of depression, marital distress, and health problemsthan the normal girls. Ratings of parental stress were associatedwith both maternal depression and severity of child psychopathology,especially aggression, conduct problems, and hyperactivity.These findings suggest that ADDH girls and boys are quite similarin the nature of their psychopathology and do not differ fromeach other in the degree of parenting stress associated withtheir care. Instead, high parental stress is associated withchild psychopathology in general, and particularly with externalizingsymptoms.