The relationship between maternal ADHD symptoms and maternal language was examined in a community sample of 50 mothers of
infants age 3–12 months. It was hypothesized that higher maternal symptoms of ADHD would be related to lower quality of maternal
language use. Recordings of mothers’ speech were coded for complexity and elaboration of speech and vocabulary diversity during
an interview with an adult and during mother–infant play interactions in the home. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed
that maternal ADHD symptoms were significantly related to mothers’ lower mean length of utterances during the interview and
during mother–infant play interactions. Maternal ADHD symptoms were not related to maternal vocabulary use in either of these
situations. Our findings suggest that mothers with higher ADHD symptoms may display exiguous language behaviors when interacting
with their infants and with adults. In addition, findings suggest one reason why current parent-management programs for children
with ADHD, which are verbally based and rely heavily on the parent’s communication skills, are relatively ineffective when
ADHD may be present in the parent.
Keywords ADHD - Language - Psychopathology - Parent–child interaction - MLU