Objective and subjective assessments of parenting in hyperactive preschoolers

Objective: To evaluate whether the mother-child interactions of hyperactive preschool children and their typically developing peers differentially vary as a function of situational demands, and whether groupwise differences exist with respect to disciplinary practices and family lifestyles (e.g. level of parental investment, strategies for responding to child-initiated provocation). Methods: Parenting practices were assessed via videotaped parent-child interactions and self-report methods in mother-child dyads of 21 hyperactive preschoolers and 48 age-matched control dyads. Results: Hyperactive preschoolers were significantly more non-compliant during parent-child interactions. Mothers of hyper-active preschoolers exhibited more negative behaviour and less encouragement with heightened situational demands. Although few significant differences were reported regarding disciplinary practices, parents of hyperactive preschoolers reported greater levels of anger and child rearing difficulty, and perceived their children as more bothersome. Conclusions: Parents of hyperactive preschoolers may profit from interventions that are sensitive to the impact of situational changes on their behaviour and which address possible attributional biases regarding the source of parent-child discord.