TY - JOUR
T1 - Involvement of parents of children with ADHD in schools
T2 - Implications for social work practice
AU - Mo, Kitty Yuen Han
AU - Chan, Simon Tak Mau
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors received a research grant from Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong for the research.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - children and families
KW - learning disability
KW - parenting
KW - qualitative research
KW - Social work
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114405483&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/14680173211030029
DO - 10.1177/14680173211030029
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85114405483
SN - 1468-0173
VL - 22
SP - 915
EP - 930
JO - Journal of Social Work
JF - Journal of Social Work
IS - 4
ER -
