Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 7-1-2015 Parent-Child Interactions in the Presence of Risk for ADHD with and without Language Impairment Sisan Walker Angel Florida International University, [email protected] DOI:10.25148/etd.FIDC000100 Follow this and additional works at:https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of theArts and Humanities Commons,Education Commons,Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, and theSocial and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Walker Angel, Sisan, "Parent-Child Interactions in the Presence of Risk for ADHD with and without Language Impairment" (2015). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2199. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2199 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida PARENT-CHILD INTERACTIONS IN THE PRESENCE OF RISK FOR ADHD WITH AND WITHOUT LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY by Sisan Walker Angel 2015 To: Dean Ora Strickland College of Nursing and Health Sciences This thesis, written by Sisan Walker Angel, and entitled Parent-Child Interactions in the Presence of Risk for ADHD with and without Language Impairment, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Monica S. Hough _______________________________________ Jean Mead _______________________________________ Eliane Ramos, Major Professor Date of Defense: July 1, 2015 The thesis of Sisan Walker Angel is approved. _______________________________________ Dean Ora Strickland College of Nursing and Health Sciences _______________________________________ Dean Lakshmi N. Reddi University Graduate School Florida International University, 2015 ii © Copyright 2015 by Sisan Walker Angel All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my mother, because throughout the years you have taught me the real meaning of hard work, dedication and true love. Mom, you gave up your life in Colombia to bring me here for a better future, and now I dedicate all my efforts and projects to you. Thank you for showing me the importance of self-giving and determination. And to my dear Ignacio, thank you for ALWAYS believing in me and supporting me in everything I do. This thesis is yours. AMDG (Esta tesis está dedicada a mi madre, porque a lo largo de los años me has enseñado el verdadero significado del trabajo duro, la dedicación y el amor verdadero. Mami, renunciaste a tu vida en Colombia para traerme aquí por un futuro mejor, y ahora te dedico todos mis esfuerzos y proyectos a ti. Gracias por enseñarme la importancia de la entrega y determinación. Y a mi querido Ignacio, gracias por creer siempre en mí y apoyarme en todo lo que hago. Esta tesis es tuya. AMDG) iv ACKNOWLEDGMENT I wish to thank and acknowledge those who have guided and supported me throughout this journey. First and foremost, I extend my deepest gratitude to my major professor Dr. Eliane Ramos, her tremendous support, diligence and guidance through the development of this project gave me the confidence and strength to complete it. To Dr. Paolo Graziano and Dr. Katie Hart from the Center of Children and Family (CCF), I’ll be forever grateful for their trust and words of wisdom. I will also like to acknowledge and thank my mentor and friend Millie Suarez M.S. CCC-SLP for her unconditional support and expert opinions throughout my thesis journey and graduate studies, words can’t describe the gratitude I feel for having her in my life. Lastly, I’ll like to thank my committee members Dr. Monica Hough and Dr. Jean Mead for their time. Della and everyone at the CCF who made all the logistics possible, and the amazing group of students who as part of their master’s project helped to code the data, their commitment and time made this project a reality. v ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS PARENT-CHILD INTERACTIONS IN THE PRESENCE OF RISK FOR ADHD WITH AND WITHOUT LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT by Sisan Walker Angel Florida International University, 2015 Miami, Florida Professor Eliane Ramos, Major Professor The purpose of this research was to analyze how parent-child interactions differ in discourse structure, communicative function and linguistic behaviors between children who are at high-risk for developing a behavioral disorder such as ADHD, and those who are at high-risk for developing a behavioral disorder with a co-occurring language impairment. Participants consisted of 20 children ages three to five years old and their parents. A five-minute parent-child interaction was video recorded and analyzed using an adapted version of the “Coding parent/child interaction as a clinical outcome: a research note” designed by Law, Barnett, and Kot (1999). Results revealed slight differences in each communication parameter amongst the two groups, however, statistical results of parametric and non-parametric tests determined that there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups, with the exception of increased verbal initiations (p=.040) in children with no language impairment when compared to those with a language impairment as was expected. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................8 Parent-Child Interactions .............................................................................8 Language Development ..............................................................................9 Communication Disorders ........................................................................10 Specific Language Impairment .................................................................10 Parent-child Interactions in the Presence of LI ..........................................13 Childhood Mental Disorders ......................................................................13 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) ...................................14 Parent-child Interactions in the Presence of ADHD ..................................16 Comorbidity between LI and ADHD .........................................................17 Treatment for ADHD and LI .....................................................................18 ADHD ............................................................................................18 Language Impairments ...................................................................20 Coding Parent-child Interactions ...............................................................22 Current Study .............................................................................................23 Research Question/ Hypothesis .................................................................23 III. METHODOLOGY .........................................................................................24 Participants .................................................................................................24 Recruitment and Eligibility ........................................................................26 Measures ....................................................................................................27 Procedures ..................................................................................................29 Data Analysis .............................................................................................31 IV. RESULTS ........................................................................................................33 Discourse Structure ....................................................................................33 Adult ..............................................................................................33 Child ...............................................................................................34 Communicative Functions .........................................................................36 Linguistic Behaviors ..................................................................................37 V. DISCUSSION .................................................................................................39 Discourse Structure ...................................................................................40 Communicative Functions .........................................................................41 Linguistic Behaviors .................................................................................42 Limitations .................................................................................................43 Implications for Current Practice and Future Research .............................44 vii VI. REFERENCES ................................................................................................45 viii LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Demographics of participants in group 1 (ADHD+LI)………………....…….....26 2. Demographics of participants in group 2 (ADHD)……………………………....26 3. Definitions and descriptions of specific codes….………………………………..33 4. Nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test for adult’s individual codes …………….35 5. Independent t-test statistical analysis for total adult’s total discourse structure behaviors…………………………………………………………………………35 6. Independent t-test statistics for child’s individual codes discourse structure behaviors………………………………………………………………………....37 7. Nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test for child’s individual codes……………...38 8. Independent t-test statistics for total communicative function codes………........38 9. Independent t-test statistics for parent’s linguistic behaviors and total codes…...39 ix