A Strength Based Investigation into the Role of Parent and Child Intelligence Theories and Achievement Goals on Sense of Mastery in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Date
2019-05-31
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Abstract
Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) are at risk for negative outcomes in many domains. While past research has focused on deficits faced by these children, a recent branch of research focuses on their strengths and resilience, wherein positive parenting influences are commonly viewed as protective factors that help children to experience positive well-being. Some evidence suggests that parents can influence a child’s beliefs about their intelligence and their goals for learning by exhibiting views of their own intelligence as either fixed or malleable and whether they approach tasks with the goal of learning something new or demonstrating competence. The relationship between parent and child intelligence beliefs and achievement goals has been demonstrated in typical populations but had not yet been investigated in an AD/HD population, thus, this study aimed to explore these relationships between children with AD/HD and their parents. A second area of focus examined how both parent and child intelligence beliefs and achievement goals may predict a child’s sense of mastery (i.e. one’s sense of optimism and control in managing one’s environment). As a malleable view of intelligence and a learning approach to tasks have previously been identified as important indicators of an individual’s ability to adapt and cope with setbacks it was hypothesized that these beliefs would predict a higher sense of mastery. Participants were 25 children between the ages of 8 and 11 years with a diagnosis of AD/HD and their parents. The proposed correlations and the model predicting child sense of mastery were not found to be statistically significant, suggesting that the relationship between parent and child intelligence beliefs and achievement goals may be different for children with AD/HD and a different predictive model for sense of mastery may be warranted. However, small sample size was a notable limitation and may have been a factor in the lack of significant results. A revised model for the relationship between parent and child intelligence beliefs and achievement goals, potential implications (including parent-focused, strength-based interventions) for promoting resilience in children with AD/HD, and considerations for continued investigations of resilience in AD/HD are discussed.
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Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Resilience, Intelligence Beliefs, Achievement Goals, Sense of Mastery
Citation
Crumpler, T. D. (2019). A Strength Based Investigation into the Role of Parent and Child Intelligence Theories and Achievement Goals on Sense of Mastery in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.