Autorregulação e estilo parental no cuidado de crianças com transtorno de déficit de atenção e hiperatividade

Abstract

Parenting style and parental self-regulation are relevant skills to educate and promote the full development of children. In this period of development, parenting styles adopted by parents can play a central role in children's experiences at the level of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive adjustment. In view of this, this research developed two studies with the aim of investigating the association between the parenting style involved in caring for children with ADHD and its possible repercussions on self-regulatory processes in this population. Study 1, of quantitative approach, followed a quasi-experimental study design with the objective of investigating the association between self-regulation and parenting style in parents of children with ADHD. The sample was composed of 60 parents (80% mothers), with children between 6 and 12 years old. The instruments used were: General Family Data Questionnaire, Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale, Concentrated Attention Test, and Parenting Style Inventory. More than half of the sample presented a risky parenting style (57%; n=34). The most scored negative parenting practices were physical abuse (75%; n=45) and neglect (51%; n=31); 50% (n=30) showed the positive practice of moral behavior; 29% (n=17) showed positive monitoring. There was impairment in the cognitive domains of attention in 68% of the sample (n=41); 60% (n=36) showed difficulty in problem solving and motivation (60%; n=36). Correlation analysis of these data showed that parental dysregulation is associated with risky parenting style in this population (p <0.005). Study 2, of qualitative approach, followed a multiple case study design with the objective of mapping self-regulation and describing behavioral indicators in children newly diagnosed with ADHD, without pharmacological treatment and complaining of a behavior problem. Four children (2 girls), aged 7 to 11 years, were evaluated with the instruments: General Child Data Questionnaire, Psychological Battery for Attention Assessment, Wechsler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale and Five Digit Test. The results indicated low performance in response inhibition, attention, working memory, and the flexible adaptation of thought, which corresponds to a deficit in executive functions. It was concluded that the deficit of executive functions and self-regulation constitutes an important informational basis about behavioral problems in children's ADHD. In general, the parents and children in this study had self-regulatory difficulties, and the risky parenting style in caring for these children exposes an adverse family environment that may have impacts in the short, medium and long term on their development and on the family's well-being.