Could chaos at home influence ADHD?

Could maternal and paternal parenting practices inhibit certain symptoms of ADHD in their children? There was a study performed by Mokrova in 2010 to see whether or not an individuals home environment influences ADHD behaviors.Well, what was found was that there is a positive correlation between the higher levels of home chaos and a diagnosed child's actions in the classroom. What this means is that more chaos in the home environment inhibits more actions associated with the symptoms of ADHD in their children. Such parenting practices that could lead to home chaos include:

• Inhibition of impulse
• Sustained attention
• Inconsistent discipline
• Type of supportive responses to children's actions

This is one way to look at how an environment can either heed or cause certain symptoms to be more extreme than normal. We can then make the assumption that a positive home environment may help children cope better with the ADHD, specifically when in the educational setting. The negative features associated  with ADHD, the inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity could lead to impaired functioning in school and any social environment. So if your child is having trouble in school or you have teachers claiming your child's behaviors have for some reason spiked, it could be due to stressful actions at home.

Here are some things to look for:

• Recent behavioral changes or outcries
• Recent drops in grades
• Isolation or new change in the social scene
• Signs of substance abuse
• Extreme stress

As you can see, most of these signs are recent changes in behaviors. However some signs can be gradual. It may be hard to recognize if your child has a recent change in friends, especially during adolescence when they tend to keep to themselves. Try and recognize, if you yourself are stressed out or having difficulties at home, imagine the impact it has on your child who exhibits the signs and symptoms of ADHD.