The vast majority of research on attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) focuses on the clinical parameters and medical or cognitive/behavioral interventions to reduce the disruptive behavioral symptoms of the disorder. Although there is increasing research on the difficulties of parenting a child with ADHD, research on the effects of ADHD on the family has been limited. Studies of family functioning have shown that in families with ADHD children and adolescents, parents and siblings are at an increased risk for interpersonal conflict, separation, and divorce, decreased parenting, self-esteem, depression and a heightened sense of social isolation. In addition, although ADHD is a serious and stigmatizing behavioral disorder affecting between 3 percent and 6 percent of the child and adolescent population in the United States, few studies have explored the role ethnicity plays in the manifestation, diagnosis, and treatment of the disorder or how families experience and manage it. Little research of how these issues affect ethnic minority families has occurred. Therefore, the aims of this study are to: 1) describe the meanings and processes involved in ways African American and Hispanic families experience ADHD phenomena in the social context of their everyday lives and a) identify antecedent, concurrent, and consequent factors associated with how families experience ADHD, b) identify factors specific to the sibling experience, c) describe family health beliefs and beliefs about ADHD and explore how these beliefs are associated with how families define and mange their child's disability, and d) identify perceived health and service needs, including factors associated with treatment access and barriers to treatment; 2) describe the family environment of African American and Hispanic and Euro American families with ADHD children and adolescents; and 3) generate a multicultural account of the family environment when a child or adolescent has ADHD. Data will be collected from all family members through semi-structured interviews and quantitative questionnaires measuring severity of ADHD symptoms, family functioning, parenting stress, sibling self-concept, psychological distress, perceived treatment effectiveness, and family responses to ADHD. The sample will include at least 30, and ideally 50 families each of African American, Hispanic and Euro-American descent. Qualitative data will be analyzed using the constant comparative method and quantitative data will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical analyses.
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