Poster #70 - Examining Family Factors and Youth Emotion Dysregulation among Youth with and without ADHD

• In Event: Poster Session 06

Abstract

Youth with ADHD are more likely to experience emotion dysregulation compared to typically developing peers (Graziano & Garcia, 2016; Shaw et al., 2014), which has been associated with poor academic, behavioral, and social functioning (Bunford et al., 2018; Bunford, et al., 2015). The tripartite model has identified pathways by which parental factors (e.g., family environment, parenting practices) contribute to the development of emotion (dys)regulation (Morris et al., 2017; Morris et al., 2007). Further, parents of youth with ADHD are more likely to be hostile and/or monitor their children less closely (Murray & Johnston, 2006; Weiss et al., 2000). Extant work using the Child Behavior Checklist Dysregulation Profile (CBCL-DP) within preschool community samples found that parental factors were associated with dysregulation (Kim et al., 2012; Asmussen et al., 2021). To date, no studies have examined associations between parental factors (e.g., hostility, monitoring/supervision) and emotion dysregulation via the CBCL-DP among school-aged youth with ADHD. A subset of 5,631 youth with and without ADHD (1,072 with ADHD; 51.8% male; Mage=9.96 years) completed the baseline visit for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. The current study excluded youth with subthreshold ADHD. Youth completed the Parental Monitoring Survey (Cann et al., 2003). Parents completed the Kiddie Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) about their child (Kaufman et al., 2013; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001), as well as the Family Conflict Subscale of the Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 2009). Youth emotion dysregulation was measured via the CBCL-DP (i.e., sum of T scores of the Anxious/Depressed, Aggressive Behavior, and Attention Problems subscales). Youth with ADHD demonstrated higher levels of emotion dysregulation (M=182.71, SD=21.08) compared to peers (M=155.65, SD=8.98; F(1, 5615)=2038.89, p<.001, η2=.27). Across all youth, lower parental monitoring (B=-.43, SE=.07, p<.001) and higher family conflict (B=1.46, SE=.09, p<.001) were associated with higher emotion dysregulation when controlling for sibling participation in the study, age, sex, pubertal status, and comorbidity of anxiety, conduct disorder, or oppositional defiant disorder. Youth ADHD diagnostic status moderated the association between family conflict and youth dysregulation (B=.46, SE=.19, p=.014), such that this association was larger among youth with ADHD compared to youth without ADHD. ADHD status did not moderate the association between parental monitoring and youth dysregulation (p=.33). Consistent with prior research, youth with ADHD experienced higher levels of emotion dysregulation. Parental monitoring was negatively associated with youth dysregulation, while family conflict was positively associated with youth dysregulation. There was an association between family conflict and emotion dysregulation, such that youth with ADHD exhibited higher dysregulation in the presence of high family conflict, whereas youth without ADHD exhibited similar levels of dysregulation regardless of the level of family conflict. Thus, both family conflict and parental supervision may be beneficial targets for improving dysregulation in universal prevention programs. Within intervention programs for youth with ADHD, focusing on reduction of conflict within the home may serve to improve outcomes related to emotion dysregulation.

Authors

• Kathleen E. Feeney, Florida International University
  Presenting Author

• Rosario Pintos Lobo, Florida International University

• Julio A Peraza, Florida International University

• Raul Gonzalez

• Angela R. Laird

• Erica D. Musser, Florida International University