The Mental Health and Marital Adjustment of Mothers of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

Aim:The mental health of parents is affected by the behavior of their children due to parent-child relationships. This study aimed to examine the marital adjustment, emotional problems, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in the mothers of children with ADHD, and the relationships of these parameters with each other and with the offspring’s behavioral problems.Methods:This study was conducted with 152 mothers, 90 of whom had children with ADHD, between October 2020 and April 2021. The Conners’ parent rating scale-revised long version (CPRS-RL) was used to rate the children’s symptoms. Mothers were evaluated using a sociodemographic information form, the Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), the Beck depression inventory (BDI), the adult ADHD self-report scale (ASRS), and the marriage adjustment scale (MAS). Statistical comparisons were made between the data obtained from scales and hospital records.Results:Significant associations were observed between oppositional and anxious-shy symptoms in children and the BAI and ASRS; between social problems and psychosomatic symptoms and the BAI, BDI, ASRS, and MAS; between restless-impulsive symptoms and BAI-BDI, ASRS, and MAS; between emotional lability and BAI, BDI, and ASRS; between inattention and BAI; and between hyperactivity-impulsivity and ASRS scores (p<0.05). The BAI, BDI, and ASRS scores were significantly higher, and MAS scores were significantly lower in the mothers of children with ADHD compared to the controls (p<0.05). A positive correlation was observed between ASRS scores and BAI (r=0.497 p=0.001) and BDI (r=0.04 p=0.001) scores. MAS scores were significantly negatively correlated with ASRS (r=-0.383 p=0.001), BAI (r=-0.477 p=0.001), and BDI (r=-0.437 p=0.001) scores.Conclusion:This study demonstrated that in children with ADHD, problematic behaviors exacerbate anxiety, depression, and adult attention deficiency symptoms and reduce marital adjustment in mothers.

Keywords

• problem behavior
• attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity
• mothers
• mental health
• parent-child relations