ADHD & maximising your environment

ADHD family

Even after a child has been diagnosed with ADHD, their success in being able to manage their symptoms and perform in school and in the home effectively lies upon their environment. Cultivating a supportive environment where communication is encouraged and the child is prompted to build strong relationships is helpful in improving the child’s cooperativeness in managing their own symptoms and working through the other stages of the ADHD treatment program.

Performing well academically in school for children with ADHD can be very challenging, as their inattention-disorganisation and hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms can make it hard for them to be able to concentrate in class and complete assigned tasks competently. However, there are risk factors present in the family environment that might further complicate the situation and make it even harder for them to strive and perform well in school.

 

A failure to establish strong attachments with their parents can strain the parent-child relationship, leading to conflictual interactions. When these children start school, they may then find it difficult in sustaining relationships with their teachers and classmates. The absence of strong family attachments has also been linked to deficits in self-regulation, which is further associated with lower motivation, ultimately contributing to poorer academic outcomes.

Therefore, promoting a positive family environment is incredibly helpful with minimising the severity of ADHD. Even if ADHD may run in the family, in family environments where levels of family cohesion and communication are high, the heritability of ADHD may be reduced. One study of adopted children found that those who were adopted at an earlier age and were hence removed from the foster care system earlier were less susceptible to developing ADHD, which the study attributes to positive family functioning and dynamics. Implementing strategies to improve communication within the family can help with improving the outcomes of a child with ADHD.

Increasing the family’s involvement in the child’s education can also help with improving their academic outcomes. By emphasising the importance of education, proactively establishing strategies and routines to increase time spent on academic activities and even collaborating with the child’s school, strategies to help the child academically are not only enforced in school but repeatedly emphasised at home. This enables the child’s specific, individualised needs to be better addressed and leads to better outcomes both at home and in school.

A key factor that has emerged in family environments is that of electronic devices. It may be tempting for parents to pacify their children by simply letting them have control over the tablet or the smartphone, but these lifestyle habits are well known to have detrimental effects in young children, and particularly so in children with ADHD. Research has found that children displaying ADHD symptoms spend longer on electronic devices than their peers, using computers more not only during the school day but even when they eat and before their bedtime. This is closely linked to poor sleep hygiene, which can contribute to difficulty in falling asleep and, as a result, excessive daytime sleepiness.

Fostering a supportive family environment can be crucial to preventing ADHD and potentially reducing impacts and severity of ADHD symptoms. Building strong familial relationships, involving the family in the child’s education and reducing screen time are all methods that can make the management of ADHD symptoms easier.

References:

  • Crea, T. M., Chan, K., & Barth, R. P. (2013). Family environment and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adopted children: Associations with family cohesion and adaptability. Child: Care, Health and Development, 40(6), 853-862.
  • Mautone, J. A., Lefler, E. K., & Power, T. J. (2011). Promoting family and school success for children with ADHD: Strengthening relationships while building skills. Theory Into Practice, 50, 43-51.
  • Tong, L., Xiong, X., & Tan, H. (2016). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and lifestyle-related behaviours in children. PLoS ONE, 11(9): e0163434.