The association between child gender and observed maternal responsiveness in mothers of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between child gender and observed maternal responsiveness in mothers of 6-10 year old children with ADHD. Fifty-seven mother-child dyads participated in a 25-minute observed parent-child interaction comprised of both structured and unstructured tasks. Observed interactions were coded for overall and dimensional categories of maternal responsiveness. Results indicated that mothers of boys and mothers of girls with ADHD did not differ on either overall levels of responsiveness or individual dimensions of responsiveness (e.g., control, affect, etc.). However, responsiveness did vary as a function of child age and maternal race/ethnicity, with mothers of younger children and Caucasian mothers displaying higher levels of responsiveness. Implications and future directions are discussed.