Mediational Patterns of Parenting Styles Between Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome Difficulties and Youth Psychopathology

Background/Objectives: Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome (CDS) is a clinical condition primarily characterized by inattention, hypoactivity, and mind-wandering, which has not yet been recognized as an official diagnostic category. Although there are overlaps be-tween CDS and ADHD, evidence supports the semi-independence of CDS from the ADHD-Inattentive subtype. Importantly, while the impact of ADHD on parenting styles has been studied, no previous research has investigated the potential influence of CDS difficulties on parenting behaviors. Both CDS and ADHD are associated with internaliz-ing and externalizing symptoms, which are influenced by negative parenting styles. The severity of ADHD is known to predict the use of dysfunctional parenting patterns; how-ever, no studies have yet investigated how CDS difficulties might affect parenting styles. Due to the similarities between CDS and ADHD, it is reasonable to hypothesize a similar relationship. This study aims to examine the potential mediating role of parenting styles—both negative and positive—in the relationship between CDS difficulties and internaliz-ing and externalizing symptoms. Methods: The sample is composed of 369 Italian school-aged children (9.38 ± 2.34 years old). Parents reported on their children’s psychopathol-ogy, CDS difficulties, and their own parenting strategies. Results: Analyses conducted us-ing Hayes’ PROCESS tool indicated that only negative parenting styles partially mediated the relationship between CDS difficulties and parent-reported youth anxiety, depression, and oppositional defiant disorder. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of interventions aimed at addressing both CDS in children and improving parenting strat-egies to enhance youth psychopathological outcomes.