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Temperament, parenting, and executive functioning (EF) are individual and contextual factors that have been identified to play a role in the development of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Specifically, exuberant temperament in toddlerhood has been associated with both adaptive and maladaptive outcomes, including ADHD symptoms. Therefore, it is important to understand factors that predict which exuberant children experience increased ADHD symptoms and the specific mechanisms through which early exuberant temperament impacts later ADHD symptoms. Using a multi-method, prospective longitudinal design, this study examined a moderated mediation model wherein the interactive effects of observed exuberance and parenting at age 3 predicted the development of parent-reported ADHD symptoms from childhood through adolescence (age 5, 7, 9, 12, and 15) via child EF (i.e., inhibitory control) at age 4. Parent–child dyads (n = 291) from a longitudinal study on child temperament were included. A piecewise model of ADHD symptom growth demonstrated stability in ADHD symptoms from age 5–9 and a decrease from age 9–15. Results support a moderated mediation model wherein an increase in ADHD symptoms throughout childhood was predicted from early childhood exuberant temperament by way of EF, but only for children whose parents displayed less directive parenting. Findings suggest identifiable early markers of risk, including temperament, parenting, and EF- pointing to possible targets for early intervention/prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Neurobiological models suggest links between maternal cortisol reactivity and parenting; however, no studies have examined cortisol reactivity and parenting in mothers of school-age children with ADHD. Method: We examined the relationship between observed parenting and maternal cortisol reactivity in two laboratory contexts: the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) and parenting-child interaction (PCI). Mothers of children with (N = 24) and without (N = 36) ADHD participated. Results: During the TSST, greater cortisol output and increase were associated with decreased positive and increased negative parenting. However, during the PCI, cortisol output was associated with increased self-reported and observed positive parenting, and decreased observed negative parenting. Cortisol change during the PCI was associated with decreased observed positive parenting and increased self-reported negative parenting. Among mothers of children with ADHD, cortisol output during the PCI was negatively associated with negative, inconsistent parenting. Change in cortisol predicted more inconsistent discipline and corporal punishment. Conclusion: Findings contribute to an integrative biological, psychological, and cognitive process model of parenting in families of children with ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal emotional functioning and emotion socialization practices can facilitate or hinder children's emotional development, and youth with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for emotion lability. However, little is known about the independent and interactive effects of maternal emotion dysregulation and adolescent ADHD symptoms on maternal emotion socialization and adolescent emotion lability over time. Using secondary data analyses of a longitudinal community sample of youth and their mothers (Nbaseline = 247; 43.7% female), the current study examined direct and indirect effects of maternal emotion dysregulation on adolescent emotion lability via supportive and non-supportive emotion socialization practices as mediators, and the extent to which adolescent ADHD symptoms moderated these longitudinal pathways. Mothers reported on all study constructs. Results showed that non-supportive parenting responses to adolescents' negative emotional expressions partially mediated the association between maternal emotion dysregulation and adolescent emotion lability, and the effect was stronger at higher levels of youth ADHD symptom severity. Results suggest that parent- and youth-level characteristics interact to confer risk for non-supportive emotion socialization practices and adolescent emotion lability. This research contributes uniquely to theory and research on ADHD and emotional functioning across adolescence. Future research should extend this work by utilizing multi-modal assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]