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Family and Cognitive Factors: Modeling Risk for Aggression in Children With ADHD

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ABSTRACT

Objective

To explore the relationships of family and cognitive factors to aggression as reported by parents and teachers.

Method

Data regarding different types of aggressive behavior were collected from parents and teachers of 165 school-age (7-11 years old) children referred to a study of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and disruptive behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the differential relationships of family and cognitive factors to aggression in the home and school settings.

Results

Family risk factors influenced aggression reported at home and at school, whereas cognitive risk factors may exert their influence on aggression at school. Significant covariance between parent and teacher report of aggressive behavior was observed.

Conclusions

Intervention at the family level may serve to reduce aggressive behaviors in both home and school environments. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2006;45(3):355-363.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 163 boys (n = 141) and girls (n = 22), ages 7-11 years with ADHD and/or other disruptive behavior disorders, who participated in a research protocol investigating aggressive behaviors in individuals with ADHD. The mean age of the sample was 9.06 years (SD = 1.29 years), and all had a Verbal or Performance IQ score of at least 70. The sample was ethnically diverse: 40.9% were Latino, 29.6% were African American, 18.9% were white, and 10.7% were of mixed or other ancestry. All

RESULTS

Descriptive statistics for all indicator variables are summarized in Table 1. Slightly more than 30% of participants lived in homes with one adult. Slightly more than 50% lived in homes with two adults, although in many cases, adults in the home were not necessarily the biological parents. Most participants had at least one sibling living with them at home, and nearly 14% had three or more siblings in the home with them. More than 35% of the participants had at least one biological parent with

DISCUSSION

The principal finding of this study is that family risk factors are associated with pervasive aggressive behavior in children that spans the home and school setting. The findings are consistent with those of other investigators (Arseneault et al., 2000, Garcia et al., 2000, Griffin et al., 2003). In contrast, results only partially support cognitive impairment in youths as selectively associated with aggression in the school setting. This has not been reported in previous investigations.

There

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    • This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health grants RO1MH46448 and RO1MH60698 , and The William T. Grant Foundation's Faculty Scholar's Award Program.

    Disclosure: Dr. Newcorn has had consulting/advisory relationships with Eli Lilly, McNeil, Novartis, Shire, UCB, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cephalon, and Sanofi-Aventis; has received research support from Eli Lilly, McNeil, and Shire; and serves on speaker boards for Eli Lilly, McNeil, and Novartis. Dr. Halperin has consulted for Shire. The other authors have no financial relationships to disclose.

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    Copyright © 2006 The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.