Discovering the pathologies of subsystems in families with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and survey the effectiveness of child parent relationship therapy on discovered problems and empowerment of these families, a mixed method study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to discovering the pathologies of subsystems in families with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and survey the effectiveness of child parent relationship therapy on discovered problems and empowerment of these families. The present study is a mixed method (qualitative-quantitative). The first part of the research is qualitative in the phenomenological method. The sample consisted of 16 families (27 members) who had the first-hand experience with this phenomenon. The tool was a semi-structured interview, which was analyzed data with Colaizzi method. In the second part of the study, 4 parents (2 mothers and 2 fathers) were selected purposefully and analyzed in a single case method. Qualitative findings included the discovery of pathologies in three subsystems of families and development of an ADHD-based family questionnaire, which included 77 questions with appropriate validity and reliability. Quantitative findings included the significant effectiveness of child parent relationship therapy on family empowerment and the discovered problems in ADHD-based family. The results showed that injuries by ADHD children not only negatively affected each family member but also challenged the family system and confirmed the need of these families to support, supervise, treatment and comprehensive education.

Keywords

• attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder
• injury
• family subsystem
• single case
• mixed method study