Negative career thoughts in people with ADHD might be linked with quality of parental relationships: Study

A new study has revealed that children with ADHD can have negative career thoughts in adolescence depending on the kind of relationship they share with their parents. It specifically showed that men who did not have a great relationship with their mothers tend to have dysfunctional career thoughts.

A new study published in The Career Development Quarterly looked for potential links between negative or dysfunctional career thoughts and the quality of parental relationships in high school students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In the study of 102 adolescents (76 boys, 26 girls) with ADHD, male participants’ dysfunctional career thoughts were related to their relationships with their mothers.

Those who had positive relationships with their mothers exhibited less external conflict about their career choices.

The findings may be useful for career counsellors as they consider the influence of family relationships on the career choices of adolescents with ADHD.

Future research should incorporate the influence of gender and race/ethnicity on such relationships and also focus on paternal relationships.

“My collaborators and I are very excited about the findings and the implications of this study. We hope they spur more research to understand how dysfunctional career thoughts develop in relational contexts and aid in evidence-based, contextually driven relational interventions,” said lead author Abiola Dipeolu, PhD, of Texas A&M University, Kingsville.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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