Fathers’ boredom proneness associated with his children’s ADHD tendencies

New research suggests that the psychological traits of mothers and fathers may influence their children’s attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder tendencies and boredom levels in distinct ways. The findings indicate that while genetic predispositions play a significant role, specific parenting styles, such as maternal control, could help manage boredom in young children. This study was published in Scientific Reports.

Psychological research has long established a connection between high levels of boredom and various negative behavioral outcomes. Frequent boredom is often linked to issues such as pathological gambling, substance abuse, and problematic internet use. Despite these known risks, science has not fully explained the developmental mechanisms behind boredom or how it might be regulated during childhood.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, frequently co-occurs with a high susceptibility to boredom. Both conditions share characteristics such as impulsivity and difficulty maintaining attention.

While ADHD is generally viewed as a neurodevelopmental trait with a strong genetic component, boredom proneness may be more responsive to environmental factors. This distinction suggests that the family environment could play a significant role in shaping how children experience and manage boredom.

“Although high boredom proneness is associated with various maladaptive behaviors, little is known about its developmental mechanisms or how such behaviors can be regulated,” said study author Izumi Uehara of Ochanomizu University.

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“Given evidence that children with ADHD experience heightened boredom, and that boredom proneness may be more environmentally malleable than ADHD symptoms, this study examined how parental ADHD tendencies, boredom proneness, and parenting styles relate to children’s ADHD tendencies and boredom proneness. This work represents an initial step toward understanding how early environmental factors may shape children’s capacity to regulate boredom-related behaviors.”

Most prior research on these topics in Japan has also focused almost exclusively on mothers. This focus has left a gap in understanding how fathers contribute to these developmental patterns.

The researchers aimed to address this by examining how the traits of both parents associate with their children’s behaviors. They sought to understand if the biological traits of parents or their parenting styles were stronger predictors of a child’s tendencies.

The research team recruited participants through an internet survey company. They specifically targeted families with children in the first through third grades of elementary school. This age range is considered a critical period for the emergence of academic and social habits. The final analysis included data from 301 pairs of parents, consisting of both a mother and a father, along with information about one child per couple.

The participants were predominantly from the middle class. Most parents were in their 30s or 40s. The researchers sent questionnaire packets via postal mail to families where both parents agreed to participate. This ensured that the data reflected the perspectives of both parental figures regarding the same child.

Parents completed several standardized psychological questionnaires. They rated their own tendencies toward ADHD using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale. They also assessed their own susceptibility to boredom using the Boredom Proneness Scale.

In addition, parents reported on their parenting styles using the Japanese Parenting Style Scale. This scale divides parenting into two main dimensions: responsiveness and control. Responsiveness refers to emotional warmth and support. Control refers to discipline and the regulation of behavior.

For the children, parents provided ratings using a standard ADHD rating scale designed for young children. Because there is no widely accepted scale for boredom proneness in this age group, parents rated their child’s daily boredom levels on a single-item scale. Parents also provided an assessment of their child’s academic performance.

The researchers found that ADHD tendencies and boredom proneness were closely linked within families. Parents who reported higher levels of ADHD traits also tended to report higher susceptibility to boredom. This pattern of overlapping traits was mirrored in their children. However, the study found distinct differences in how mothers and fathers appeared to influence their offspring.

Unexpectedly, a child’s ADHD traits were best predicted by a combination of the father’s ADHD tendencies and the father’s proneness to boredom. This suggests that a father’s susceptibility to boredom may have a unique association with the development of attention difficulties in his children.

“One surprising finding was that, despite mothers spending more time on childcare on average in Japan, children’s traits were specifically associated with fathers’ characteristics—most notably, a significant association between fathers’ boredom proneness and children’s ADHD tendencies,” Uehara told PsyPost.

The researchers also examined how parenting behaviors interacted with these biological traits. They utilized statistical regression models to determine which factors remained significant when all variables were considered. For the majority of children, parental traits were the primary predictors. However, a different pattern emerged for a subgroup of children who exhibited the highest levels of ADHD tendencies.

For this specific subgroup of high-scoring children, maternal responsiveness was identified as a strong explanatory factor. High levels of maternal responsiveness were associated with higher ADHD tendencies in these children.

“Higher levels of ADHD-related behaviors and boredom susceptibility in children with greater genetic risk for ADHD were associated with parental overreactivity,” Uehara explained. “Taken together with the finding that maternal control was linked to reduced child boredom proneness, these results highlight the importance of balanced parental engagement.”

But this does not necessarily mean that maternal warmth causes ADHD. It is possible that mothers become more responsive and attentive in an effort to support a child who is already exhibiting challenging behaviors. “Child-driven effects cannot be ruled out,” Uehara said.

Regarding childhood boredom, the researchers found that a child’s own ADHD tendencies were the strongest predictor. Children with higher attention deficits were more likely to be bored. Maternal boredom proneness was also a direct predictor of the child’s boredom.

The study highlighted a potential protective role for maternal control. Children whose mothers exercised more structural control and discipline tended to exhibit lower levels of boredom. This implies that parental guidance and the setting of boundaries may help children regulate their need for stimulation.

A different interaction was observed regarding fathers. When fathers exhibited high levels of responsiveness, children with high ADHD tendencies showed increased levels of boredom. This suggests that while warmth is generally positive, excessive responsiveness from fathers might not effectively help these specific children manage their boredom.

The study also looked at the long-term implications of these traits by examining the parents’ socioeconomic status. Adults with lower boredom proneness reported significantly higher levels of education and income.

This association with socioeconomic status was found for boredom proneness but not for ADHD tendencies. This finding suggests that the ability to manage boredom may be a distinct factor in achieving long-term educational and financial success.

“Our findings suggest that maternal and paternal characteristics may influence children’s boredom and ADHD tendencies in different ways,” Uehara said. “Notably, the link between maternal control and lower levels of children’s boredom suggests that boredom is not fixed and can be modifiable through everyday parenting. Because boredom has been linked to problematic internet use, these results highlight how parents’ own habits and involvement may help reduce children’s risk of internet addiction.”

As with all research, there are limitations to consider. The study relied entirely on parent reports for both their own traits and their children’s behavior. This reliance could introduce bias, as parents might perceive their children through the lens of their own tendencies. Additionally, the study was cross-sectional, meaning it captured data at a single point in time.

Because of this design, the research cannot prove causality. It is unclear whether parenting styles shape children’s traits or if children’s traits elicit specific parenting responses. For example, the link between maternal responsiveness and child ADHD could represent a mother reacting to her child’s needs rather than causing the symptoms.

“These effects should be interpreted as modest and indicative rather than definitive. However, given evidence among parents that lower boredom proneness is associated with higher educational attainment and income, the present findings suggest meaningful practical implications. They point to the potential for children to develop strategies to regulate boredom, which may help reduce the risk of maladaptive behaviors, including problematic internet use.”

Future studies should aim to include a more diverse range of participants and employ longitudinal designs. Following families over time would help clarify the direction of the relationships between parenting styles and child outcomes. The researchers also suggest that future work should focus on identifying how to help children regulate boredom.

“Our next steps focus on identifying concrete strategies that help children regulate boredom and examining how these early regulation processes relate to boredom management across the lifespan,” Uehara told PsyPost. “Specifically, we aim to investigate contexts in which children are most prone to boredom, typical behavioral responses, and activities that effectively alleviate boredom in both childhood and adulthood. Ultimately, this line of work may offer insights into lifelong mental health and adaptive self-regulation.

“While high levels of boredom proneness are associated with maladaptive behaviors across societies, it is important to recognize cultural differences in how boredom is perceived and experienced.”

“In Western intellectual traditions, boredom has often been discussed in relation to existential emptiness or loss of meaning, whereas in Japan, feelings of emptiness or impermanence have historically been more readily accepted and not necessarily experienced as aversive,” Uehara explained. “Although coping skills for extreme boredom are likely important across cultures, examining how people manage the mild, everyday boredom common in daily life—within different cultural frameworks—may represent a promising direction for future research.”

The study, “Differential associations of parents’ ADHD tendencies, boredom proneness, and parenting styles with children’s ADHD tendencies and boredom proneness,” was authored by Tianyi Zhang, Yuji Ikegaya, and Izumi Uehara.