Parents of young children with an excitable or exuberant temperament could adapt their parenting style to help moderate their children's potential development of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a new study co-authored by a researcher at the University of Waterloo.
Developmental psychologists know that temperament, parenting, and the brain's executive functions are interconnected factors in the development of ADHD symptoms during childhood. But the study found specific factors that predict a higher likelihood of ADHD symptoms, pointing to the importance of early, targeted intervention.
“A collection of early traits we call exuberance in child temperament, such as high arousal, curiosity, and positive responses to unfamiliar people and contexts, combined with family factors, may predispose some children to developing ADHD symptoms,” said Dr. Heather Henderson, professor of developmental psychology at Waterloo and co-author of The Study.
“This work demonstrates that parents can actually help break the pathways that lead to ADHD through more directive and engaged parenting behaviors, such as guiding the child with verbal and physical cues as they confront new situations.”
While exuberance in preschoolers can be very positive, research shows that exuberant children can also have difficulties with self-regulation and executive functions, such as working memory and flexible thinking.
Following 291 children from four months of age to 15 years, researchers observed the child's temperament and parent-child interactions at age three, assessed the child's executive functioning at age four, and analyzed ADHD symptoms. reported by parents six times between ages five and 15. The study determined that temperament and parenting work together to impact the development of a child's executive functions.
The findings suggest that ADHD symptoms increase during childhood as a child displays an early exuberant temperament, low to normal executive functions, and receives less directive and involved parenting as the toddler navigates new situations.
“ADHD symptoms typically stabilize between ages five and nine and decline between ages nine and 15. But in predictable cases of very young children with exuberant temperaments and less directive parenting, that stabilization may not occur,” Henderson said. .
“More directive parenting, which does not control but guides the child with verbal and physical cues, can help develop the child's self-regulation skills and prevent ADHD symptoms from increasing.”
The article, “The developmental progression of ADHD symptoms from early childhood to adolescence: Early effects of exuberant temperament, parenting, and executive functioning” by Henderson, Nicole E. Lorenzo, Hong NT Bui, Kathryn A. Degnan , Jennifer M. McDermott, Nathan A. Fox, and Andrea Chronis-Tuscano, was recently published in the journal Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.