Parent-adolescent conflict in teenagers with ADHD and ODD

Eighty-seven male teens (ages 12-18 years) with ADHD/ODD and their parents were compared to 32 male teens and their parents in a community control (CC ) group on mother, father, and teen ratings of parent-teen conflict and com munication quality, parental self-reports of psychological adjustment, and direct observations of parent-teen problem-solving interactions during a ne utral and conflict discussion. Parents and teens in the ADHD/ODD group rate d themselves as having significantly more issues involving parent-teen conf lict, more anger during these conflict discussions, and more negative commu nication generally, and used more aggressive conflict tactics with each oth er than did parents and teens in the CC group. During a neutral discussion, only the ADHD/ODD teens demonstrated more negative behavior. During the co nflict discussion, however, the mothers, fathers, and teens in the ADHD/ODD group displayed more negative behavior, and the mothers and teens showed l ess positive behavior than did participants in the CC group. Differences in conflicts related to sex of parent were evident on only a few measures. Bo th mother and father self-rated hostility contributed to the level of mothe r-teen conflict whereas father self-rated hostility and anxiety contributed to father-teen conflict beyond the contribution made by level of teen ODD and ADHD symptoms. Results replicated past studies of mother-child interact ions in ADHD/ODD children, extended these results to teens with these disor ders, showed that greater conflict also occurs in father-teen interactions, and found that degree of parental hostility, but not ADHD symptoms, furthe r contributed to levels of parent-teen conflict beyond the contribution mad e by severity of teen ADHD and ODD symptoms.