Maternal Anxiety and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children

According to the previous studies, anxiety along with some other psychiatric disorders is common among mothers of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Since maternal anxiety affects mother-child interactions, early treatment plays an important role in the prognosis of ADHD in children. This study aimed to determine the relationship between maternal anxiety and hyperactivity in children. This study was conducted on 112 mothers of ADHD children (aged 6-12 years), selected via convenience sampling from October to December 2012. The subjects lived in districts 2 and 6 of Tehran and were referred to consultation centers. Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 42 (DASS-42) and Swanson, Nolan and Pelham (SNAP-IV) questionnaires were completed by the subjects. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used for the analysis of the relationship between variables. A positive correlation was found between maternal anxiety and children’s hyperactivity (P=0.05). In fact, high levels of maternal anxiety are accounted for various child-rearing problems such as children’s hyperactivity. High levels of maternal anxiety lead to child rearing problems, which in turn cause various disorders such as hyperactivity in children.