No study up to now investigated the role of parental temperament traits in disruptive behavioral disorders (DBD) of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

To determine the relationships between parent temperament characteristics and child DBD symptoms in children with ADHD.

The sample consisted of 542 treatment naïve children with ADHD aged 6-17 years. All children had to be living with both biological mothers and fathers. The severity of ADHD and comorbid DBD were assessed via parent and teacher rated Turgay DSM-IV-Based Child and Adolescent Behavioral Disorders Screening and Rating Scale. Temperamental dimensions of mothers and fathers were measured by TEMPS-A. The association between parental ADHD and DBD was evaluated with two separate structural equation models.

Relationships of parent ADHD and DBD symptoms were presented in Figures 1 and 2.

This study showed a significant relationship between maternal depressive and paternal cyclothymic affective temperament and conduct disorder, and between maternal anxious and irritable, and paternal cyclothymic affective temperament and oppositional defiant disorder in children with ADHD. This study highlights that children with more severe behavioural symptoms are more likely to have a parent with certain temperament traits.