An exploration of parents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disoder (ADHD) and their experiences of raising children with ADHD

There is considerable research documenting the challenges of parenting children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Given the high heritability of ADHD, parents of children with ADHD often have ADHD themselves. However, research has largely focused on how parents deal with the challenges of raising a child with ADHD, and less on how parents cope with their own ADHD. Additionally, given the complex and multidimensional nature of ADHD, research exploring parental ADHD using qualitative approaches is needed. Consisting of three linked manuscripts, the primary objective of this research was to gain a better understanding of the lived experiences of parents with ADHD. The purpose of Manuscript One was to map out and review articles that explore the experiences of parents with ADHD themselves, rather than parents of children with ADHD. Qualitative content analysis revealed the following eight categories: blame, stigma, marital stress, medication, coping with parental ADHD, challenges of parenting with ADHD, positives of parenting with ADHD, and undiagnosed ADHD. Results also revealed a significant lack of studies focusing on the experiences of parents with ADHD. Manuscripts Two and Three were designed to address this gap in literature and investigate the experiences of parents with ADHD. Manuscript Two explored the lived experiences of mothers with ADHD while they raise a child with ADHD through an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), which revealed the following superordinate themes: (i) living with ADHD, (ii) getting diagnosed, (iii) being a parent with ADHD, and (iv) support systems. Lastly, in Manuscript Three, the potential strengths that mothers perceive within themselves using journal entries were explored through narrative inquiry. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed the challenges of being a mother with ADHD and the positives of being a mother with ADHD while raising children with ADHD as major themes. Overall, results suggest that the challenges typically linked to parenting with ADHD may be alleviated by the potential benefit of sharing the ADHD diagnosis between parent and child. Adopting a strengths-based approach when working with families with ADHD may help parents see beyond the frustration and challenges related to ADHD and place a stronger focus on facilitating strengths and fostering resilience.