Outlasting Disruption: The Process of Reinvestment in Families with ADHD Children

Abstract

The goal of the research described in this article was to generate a grounded theory of how parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) coped with this chronic behavioral disorder. Interview data from 15 families with ADHD children (N = 59) were analyzed using the grounded theory method. Data analysis revealed that parents outlasted the disruption of ADHD through three subprocesses of "reinvesting": making sense, recasting biography, and relinquishing the "good ending." Findings suggest that there is a developmental trajectory of how parents adjust to the disorder over time and that there is a need for increased social and mental health services for all members of the family over the course of the disorder.