Family factors associated with aggressive symptomatology in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a...

This study tested whether parent and child affective attitudes and interactional behavior co-varied with the presence or absence of associated aggressive symptomatology in families with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) child. Affective attitudes of both parents and their ADHD sons were studied using a modified measure of expressed emotion, the five minute speech sample (FMSS-EE), in 29 families. A direct interaction task was also used to measure verbal and non-verbal communication. FMSS-EE status predicted parental interactional behavior, but the degree of child aggressiveness did not. The child's behavior towards parents, however, was highly correlated with their aggressiveness but not their EE status regarding their parents, despite the fact that child and parent EE were highly correlated. The study supports the notion that aggressiveness and a negative family climate may be independent factors in determining the long-term course of ADHD children.