Interaction of parenting styles and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Iranian parents

This study examines the mutual relationships between parenting styles and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), utilizing a sample of 130 Iranian parents of children with ADHD and 120 parents of children without ADHD. The results indicate that there are significant relationships between ADHD and parenting styles. That is, there is a negative relationship between having an ADHD child and applying authoritative parenting style, whereas the relationship is positive for the authoritarian style. We do not find any significant relationship between having an ADHD child and applying a permissive parenting style. Gender comparisons indicate that fathers and mothers of non-ADHD children show no difference in using parenting styles, but parents of ADHD children show some differences in authoritative and authoritarian styles. The findings are in agreement with the interactive views on ADHD etiology (Hinshaw, 1994) and also with findings showing that the continuation of ADHD through development is partly related to parenting style (Campbell & Ewing, 1990). Implications for assessing both parenting styles and parental training are discussed.