Resilience as a moderator between Objective and Subjective Burden among parents of children with ADHD

The caring related challenges reported by parents of children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were widely investigated. Little information is instead available on the resources mobilized by these parents in facing caring burden. In the attempt to fill this gap, the present study aimed at exploring the moderating role of resilience in the relationship between the amount of time parents of children with ADHD devote to caring tasks (objective burden) and their emotional and social burden (subjective burden). A multidimensional model of resilience was adopted, comprising six components: Self-Perception, Planned Future, Structured Style, Social Competence, Family Cohesion, and Social Resources. Participants were 44 parents (81.8% females, aged 31-53) of children with ADHD (86.4% males, aged 6-14). They completed the Caregiver Burden Inventory, the Resilience Scale for Adults, and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. Hierarchical regressions were performed to test the moderating role of resilience as a global construct, and of each resilience dimension separately, on the relation between objective and subjective burden; participants’ gender and mental health scores were employed as control variables. Total resilience, Family Cohesion and Self-Perception emerged as protective factors, weakening the relationship between subjective and objective burden. Findings suggest that the potential of individual and family resources in promoting parents’ adjustment to caring burden could be more effectively exploited in clinical interventions addressed to parents of children with ADHD. Overall, the identification of caregivers’ strengths and resources could help practitioners to better support children with ADHD and their families.