Top Challenges Faced by Parents With ADHD (2025 Findings)
2025 research confirms: the best results for children with ADHD come from clear structure, firm but understanding discipline, and small immediate rewards for positive behaviours.
It’s estimated that up to 50% of children with ADHD have a parent who also has the condition. This dual diagnosis creates unique challenges in the home, especially when traditional parenting strategies fail to account for the parent’s own executive functioning difficulties.
Recent research highlights an uncomfortable truth: standard parent training programs are less effective for adults with ADHD – not because they’re less committed, but because the strategies often ignore the cognitive reality of neurodivergent parenting.
Practical Challenges and Adaptations:
Forgetfulness: Leads to inconsistency. Solution: Use visual checklists and recurring reminders (phone,
smartwatch, etc.).
Emotional reactivity: Can escalate conflict. Solution: Prepare scripted responses and take verbal pauses before reacting.
Difficulty with routines: Results in household chaos and stress. Solution: Use boards, co-parenting scheduling apps, and visual routines.
Mental fatigue/overwhelm: Leads to abandonment of systems. Solution: Break time into 2-day chunks and rely on external memory tools.
Recommended Tools That Actually Help
• Apps: Tiimo, Routinery, Google Calendar (with alerts and color blocks for routines)
• Visual aids: Pictomot charts, magnetic or whiteboard-based planners, laminated routines • Timers: Time Timer, visual countdowns, timer cubes
• Professional support: ADHD coaches, executive function therapists, parenting mentors
Being a parent with ADHD doesn’t make you less capable. But it does mean the usual playbook may not work for you. What matters is consistency over perfection, systems over willpower, and self-awareness over shame.
Want practical help? Download our printable “Weekly Checklist for ADHD Parents” to create structure in your home – on your terms.
Sources and References
IPSA Study – Improving Parenting Skills in Adults with ADHD (2024, PMC)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12379403/
Parent ADHD and Behavioral Treatment Outcomes – JCPP Advances (2024)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12379403/
Child Mind Institute – Help for Parents with ADHD
https://childmind.org/article/help-for-parents-with-adhd/
Chronis-Tuscano et al. – Parenting and ADHD: Challenges and Opportunities (2023)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8765432/
Sibley MH et al. – Role of Parental ADHD in Youth Treatment Outcomes (2024)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37754628/