INVESTIGATION OF ATTACHMENT CHARACTERISTICS AND PARENTAL ATTITUDES IN CHILDREN WITH COGNITIVE PROBLEMS

Abstract

Self-regulation deficits, including problems with impulse control, self-soothing, assertiveness, persistence, patience, and inhibition, are the most prominent features of ADHD. It has been suggested that the roots of the self-regulation disorder seen in children with ADHD may stem from tense early interactions between caregiver and child and impaired primary attachment. Studies have shown that individuals with insecure attachment are more susceptible to problems with affective and behavioral regulation. The prominence of social deficits in ADHD provides evidence of a compelling similarity between the developmental consequences of insecure attachment and the difficulties seen in children with ADHD. In one study, it was predicted that parental over-involvement in children at 6 months of age had a stronger influence on distractibility in early childhood and hyperactivity in middle childhood than biological and temperament-related factors. Additionally, it points to the fact that early relationship histories of children with ADHD are similar to those of children with insecure attachment