MOTHER-CHILD INTERACTIONS IN ADHD AND COMPARISON BOYS - RELATIONSHIPSWITH OVERT AND COVERT EXTERNALIZING BEHAVIOR

Reciprocal relationships between child characteristics and such famili al factors as parental psychopathology and interaction style with the child characterize the development and maintenance of attention-defici t hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as well as its comorbidity with antiso cial behavior. Our goal was to ascertain the ability of negative mater nal behavior exhibited during mother-son interactions to predict indep endently observed overt and covert externalizing behavior in the child , controlling for current maternal symptomatology and the boy's acting out behavior during the interaction. Participants were 49 boys with A DHD and 37 comparison boys, aged 6 to 12 years. Hierarchical multiple- regression analyses revealed that, even with maternal psychopathology and child negativity with the mother partialed, maternal negative beha viors predicted both observed noncompliance exhibited in class and pla y settings and laboratory stealing. Stealing was predicted from matern al negativity even with child interactional compliance controlled. Dif ferential predictions of noncompliance were revealed in ADHD versus co mparison families, yet similar patterns emerged for stealing within ea ch group. Results am discussed in light of the high risk for antisocia l behavior in ADHD children.