Bridging parental rejection and overprotection: implications of their co-occurrence for family-based interventions in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Background: Parenting plays a crucial role in the development and management of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Understanding how different parenting style dimensions interact can inform family-based interventions. This study aimed to investigate the associations between parental overprotection, rejection, and emotional warmth in parents of children diagnosed with ADHD and to compare these associations between mothers and fathers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 31 families of children aged 7 to 9 years diagnosed with ADHD. Children completed the Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran-Short Form (S-EMBU) to evaluate their perceptions of parental behaviors across three dimensions: rejection, overprotection, and emotional warmth. Correlation analyses were performed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: Strong positive correlations were found between parental rejection and overprotection in both mothers (r=0.822, P<0.001) and fathers (r=0.800, P<0.001). Emotional warmth showed weak negative correlations with both rejection and overprotection. These results indicate that rejecting and overprotective parenting behaviors tend to co-occur in parents of children with ADHD. Conclusions: Parental rejection and overprotection show strong positive associations in both mothers and fathers of children with ADHD, suggesting these parenting styles may co-occur rather than being independent dimensions. These preliminary findings highlight the complex relationships between different parenting approaches in families of children with ADHD.