Monograph: I Will Go Crazy Because of You! Parents and the Upbringing of Children with ADHD

ADHD is the disorder most frequently diagnosed in children. In the book, we want to highlight its manifestations in children as well as the consequences of improper parenting. Raising children with ADHD is very demanding and exhausting. The child’s behavior negatively affects the entire family, so it is important for parents to have sufficient knowledge about this disorder. The motivation for writing the monograph is the author’s personal experience of raising a child with ADHD.

What will you learn in the book? Do you have an inattentive or hyperactive child? Does the child struggle at school and do you not know how to cope? How can you learn to manage the difficult upbringing of a child with ADHD? And what about siblings? Do you know that such a child also has extraordinary abilities and talents? Do you know that hyperactivity also has its strengths?

ADHD is the disorder most frequently diagnosed in children. In the book, we want to highlight its manifestations in children and also the consequences of incorrect parenting. Raising children with ADHD is very demanding and exhausting. The child’s behavior negatively affects the entire family, which is why it is important for parents to have enough knowledge about this disorder. The motivation for writing the monograph is the author’s personal experience of raising a child with ADHD.

The intended readers of the monograph are primarily parents of children with ADHD. The publication may also be useful for siblings and the wider family. Being informed about this disorder often brings relief, reducing the stress caused by unsuccessful parenting and introducing new methods of raising children with ADHD.

ADHD is the most common disorder diagnosed in children. Due to its high prevalence, in this monograph we want to point to its manifestations in school-age children and also to the consequences of incorrect parenting. Raising children with ADHD is very demanding and burdensome. The child’s behavior negatively affects the whole family, which is why it is important for parents to have enough knowledge about this disorder.

The motivation for writing this monograph is the author’s 25-year personal experience of raising a child with ADHD. For this reason, a deeper exploration of this issue was undertaken.

The goal of this monograph is to analyze and characterize the ADHD syndrome, to examine the approach and specifics of raising children with this syndrome. In the empirical part, the goal is to verify the manifestations of this syndrome on the basis of mothers’ accounts and to propose recommendations aimed at supporting these children.

The monograph is divided into five chapters. In the first chapter, we focus on the characteristics of ADHD. In this chapter, we describe the causes and prevalence of ADHD. We also provide an overview of therapies and programs for children with this disorder. In the second chapter, we focus on the family environment in which child-rearing takes place and on the different parenting styles of parents. We devote attention to the use of punishment and rewards and especially to parental parenting principles. In the third chapter, we describe our own research. The core of the entire monograph is the fourth chapter, in which we examine mothers’ attitudes toward children with ADHD as well as the behavior of children with this disorder. The final chapter is focused on recommendations for parents of children with ADHD.

The intended readers of the monograph are primarily parents of children with ADHD. The publication may also be useful for siblings and the wider family. Being informed about this disorder often brings relief, reduced stress from perceived parenting failure and new methods for raising children with ADHD.

Contents

1 ADHD DISORDER 1.1 CAUSES AND EMERGENCE OF ADHD 1.1.1 CAUSES OF THE EMERGENCE OF ADHD 1.1.2 PREVALENCE OF ADHD 1.2 MANIFESTATIONS OF CHILDREN WITH ADHD 1.2.1 ADHD WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT PREDOMINANCE 1.2.2 ADHD WITH IMPULSIVITY AND HYPERACTIVITY PREDOMINANCE 1.2.3 DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA 1.3 POSSIBLE INTERVENTIONS FOR ADHD 1.3.1 THERAPEUTIC HELP 1.3.2 THERAPEUTIC PROGRAMS IN SLOVAKIA FOR CHILDREN WITH ADHD 1.3.3 COMPREHENSIVE CARE PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN WITH ADHD 1.3.4 PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT 1.3.5 BARRIERS TO ADHD TREATMENT

2 FAMILY 2.1 UPBRINGING AND INTRAFAMILY RELATIONS 2.1.1 PARENTAL STYLE 2.1.2 SIBLINGS 2.1.3 EXTRAORDINARY TALENT IN CHILDREN WITH ADHD 2.2 USE OF PUNISHMENTS AND PRAISE 2.2.1 REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS 2.2.2 POSITIVE ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRAISE 2.3 GENERAL PARENTING PRINCIPLES FOR PARENTS 2.3.1 MANAGING ADHD IN THE FAMILY SYSTEM 2.3.2 PROBLEM AREAS 2.3.3 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF HYPERACTIVITY 2.3.4 COOPERATION BETWEEN PARENTS AND SCHOOL 2.3.5 NON-COOPERATING PARENTS

3 RESEARCH PROCESS OF MOTHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD CHILDREN WITH ADHD 3.1 RESEARCH METHOD 3.2 SAMPLE SELECTION AND ENTRY INTO THE FIELD 3.3 DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES AND DATA PROCESSING

4 STUDY OF ATTITUDES OF MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WITH ADHD 4.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF A PARENT’S SITUATION WITH A CHILD WITH ADHD 4.1.1 THE PARENT’S EXPERIENCE 4.1.2 DIFFICULTY OF PARENTING 4.1.3 REPROACHES FROM THE SOCIAL CIRCLE 4.1.4 PARENT’S ATTEMPT TO FIND A SOLUTION 4.1.5 THERAPEUTIC WORK WITH THE FAMILY 4.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF A CHILD WITH ADHD 4.2.1 LEARNING PROBLEMS 4.2.2 PROBLEMS WITH ADHD MANIFESTATIONS 4.2.3 PROBLEMS IN RELATIONSHIPS 4.3 CHANGES AFTER COMPLETION OF TREATMENT 4.3.1 CHANGE IN THE PARENTS OF A CHILD WITH ADHD 4.3.2 CHANGE IN PARENTING APPROACHES 4.3.3 CHANGE IN THE BEHAVIOR OF A CHILD WITH ADHD

5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Title: I Will Go Crazy Because of You! Parents and the Upbringing of Children with ADHD
Author: PaedDr. Soňa Vancáková, PhD.

Reviewers: prof. ThDr. PaedDr. Jozef Jurko, PhD. prof. ThDr. Gabriel Ragan, PhD.

Typographical editing of text: Monika Hrušková Cover graphic design: Diana Matláková Publisher: EQUILIBRIA, s.r.o., www.equilibria.sk Print: EQUILIBRIA, s.r.o., 040 01 Košice ISBN 978-80-8143-224-8