Stress in Parents of Children with ADHD vs Depression: a Multicultural Analysis

Parents of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are often reported as experiencing more stress than parents of normal children. The bulk of this research has been conducted primarily on a Caucasian population, however, providing little information regarding multicultural aspects of parenting stress. Research has also been lacking in attention given to the stress related to parenting a child with internalizing disorders.\ud \ud The purpose of this study was 1) to compare parenting stress reported by mothers of children with ADHD to parenting stress reported by mothers of children with depressive disorders, and 2) to compare parenting stress as reported by Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic mothers.\ud \ud Results indicated that mothers of ADHD children experienced more parenting stress related only\ud to their children's hyperactive and distracting behaviors. Contrary to previous research, Caucasian mothers reported significantly more overall and parent-related parenting stress than African American mothers