Involvement in Education Among Parents with ADHD Symptoms: An Exploration of Motivations and Behaviours

The study examines parental involvement (PI) in education among families with elevated symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder impacting both children and adults, which leads to challenges in academic achievement, parenting, and family functioning. This study aims to explore differences in parental involvement, motivations, and behaviours between parents with elevated symptoms of ADHD and those without. Despite its prevalence, research on parental involvement for parents with ADHD symptoms is scarce. This study aims to fill this gap by utilizing the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model of parental involvement. We hypothesized that parents with ADHD symptoms would report lower PI motivations, less frequent involvement behaviours, and lower engagement in certain parenting behaviours. Cross-sectional data was collected during the spring of 2021; parental respondents completed self-report measures related to parental involvement behaviours and motivations. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed significant differences between groups across eight of the nine outcome variables. Contrary to previous findings, parents with ADHD symptoms reported higher motivations and frequency of involvement than parents without ADHD. Implications include extending the concept of the positive illusory bias to adults, as these parents perceived themselves as highly motivated and effective across parenting domains.