Relationship between mothers' and children's attitudes with and without ADHD toward elementary school and homework

Abstract

Attitude toward school predicts performance in school. Understanding the factors influencing a child’s attitude towards school is important, especially in children with an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who face difficulties at school. The relationship between children’s attitude, perceived by their mother, and their mother’s attitude toward school and homework will be examined. This study includes a group of 45 children with a diagnosis of ADHD (M = 9.42 year; 12 girls) and a group of 45 children without diagnoses (M = 9.42 year; 15 girls). The child’s perceived attitude toward school and homework was significantly associated with the mother’s attitude toward homework in both groups without (r = .46 and .78) and with ADHD (r = .43 and .58). A lower frequency of ADHD and a mother of older age distinguished children with a positive attitude toward school. The practical benefits are then discussed.