Involvement of parents of children with ADHD in schools: Implications for social work practice

Summary School social workers and school counselors play an important role in providing support to the parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Issues regarding the barriers to parental involvement have not been well-explored empirically in social work. By means of s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of social work : JSW 2022-07, Vol.22 (4), p.915-930
Main Authors: Yuen-han MO, Kitty, Tak-Mau CHAN, Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Children
Education
Emotions
Health behavior
Mental health services
Parent participation
Parents & parenting
Research applications
School social workers
Schools
Social work
Social workers
Sociocultural factors
Student teacher relationship
Teachers
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Summary:Summary School social workers and school counselors play an important role in providing support to the parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Issues regarding the barriers to parental involvement have not been well-explored empirically in social work. By means of semistructured interviews, this study explored the perspectives of 20 Mainland Chinese parents about parental involvement in their children’s education and in schools, parent–teacher relationships, the social factors that affect individual families, and the cultural and contextual factors that hinder parental involvement in children’s education. Findings Using thematic analysis, the researchers identified major themes: (a) emotional overinvolvement of parents in children’s education; (b) withdrawal of fathers; (c) positive and negative teacher–parent relationships; (d) contextual factors: school culture, system, and policies; and (e) parents’ preferred sources of support. Applications This research provides insight for school social workers and school counselors to develop supportive measures for parents of children with ADHD. Furthermore, it is recommended that social workers mediate tensions that arise from conflicts between teachers and parents. Social workers need to be sensitive to the power and cultural issues embedded in a parent–teacher relationship to facilitate parental involvement in school mental health services for children with ADHD. In particular, the cultural beliefs that affect parents and teachers relationships should not be ignored.
ISSN:1468-0173
1741-296X
DOI:10.1177/14680173211030029