Effects of Presence of Maternal Psychiatric Disorders on Attachment to Parents and Peers in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Objective: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, which is observed in 3–7% of the children at school age. It is associated with significant disruption in developmental, cognitive, and academic domains. In recent years, intensive research has been conducted on the topic of Woman’s Mental Health. Psychiatric disorders significantly affect individual and interpersonal relationships at all stages of individual’s life.

Methods: 50 patients aged 11–17 years who were diagnosed as ADHD were enrolled to the study. Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version (K-SADS-PL) interview and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for ChildrenRevised (WISC-R), Relationship Scale Questionnaire (RSQ), and Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) were administered to all cases included.

Results: Mean age was 12.78±1.67 in patient group. Frequency of psychiatric disorder was 14% among mothers of the patients with ADHD. It was found that mean score for attachment to mother was 69, whereas mean score for attachment to father was 66. In peer attachment, highest mean score was found for disinterested attachment by 4.41±1.19. When attachment was assessed by maternal psychiatric disorder status, no significant differences were found in parent attachment, while a significant difference was found in favor of obsessive attachment to peer (p<0.05).

Conclusions: In our study, mean scores for obsessive attachment was found to be significantly higher in children in whom maternal psychiatric disorder was present. It was found that mothers of children with ADHD promoted less interaction with their children; that they were less responsive to positive and neutral interactions promoted by children; and that they used more negative, more reactive, more authoritative and more controlling but less positive parenting strategies. Previous studies reported that mothers of children with ADHD experienced more burn-out and have higher exhaustion levels when compared controls.