Objective: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders during childhood. It was shown that depression frequency and stress level is higher among mothers of children with ADHD and ADHD affects mental health of mothers of children with ADHD. The aim of this study is to compare depression and burn- out levels of mothers of children with ADHD pre- treatment and second month post-treatment
Method: Forty children between the ages of 4 and 10 years diagnosed to have ADHD according to DSM IV and their mothers admitted to child and adolescent psychiatry clinic of Gaziantep University composed the study sample. All mothers of children with ADHD were conveyed to fill Beck Depression Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory and Turgay DSM IV Based Child and Adolescent Behaviour Disorders Screening and Rating Scale.
Results: While mothers’ post-treatment Beck Depression Scores and Maslach-emotional exhaustion subscale and depersonalization subscale scores were found to be statistically significantly lower than pre treatment scores. Maslach-personal accomplishment subscale scores were found to be statistically significantly higher than pre-treatment scores. Turgay DSM IV Based Child and Adolescent Behaviour Disorders Screening and Rating Subscales Scores were significantly lower at second month posttreatment compared with pre-treatment.
Conclusion: This study showed that the treatment of children with ADHD positively affected their mothers’ depression scores and burnout levels. It is known that psychiatric disorders of mothers poorly affects ADHD prognosis and treatment period. It is important for prognosis that the treatment both decreases ADHD symptoms in children and improves their mothers’ mental health.