Psychiatric morbidity in the parents of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders of childhood and adolescence. Due to chronic and pervasive natures, parents find difficulties in dealing with the behavioral problems of such children. A number of studies have shown that parents of ADHD children display substantial psychiatric morbidity in the form of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Aim: To examine psychiatric morbidity in parents of children with ADHD. Methods: Thirty parents (one parent either mother or father for each ADHD child was selected) were screened for psychological distress by applying GHQ-12. Those parents who had score of >= 2 on GHQ-12 and/or history of substance use were subjected to SCAN-based interview which evaluated psychiatric morbidity in them. Results: The results of this study suggest that 46.67% of parents of children with ADHD had the presence of a psychiatric diagnosis in which the most common psychiatric diagnosis was depressive disorder (26.67%) which is several times higher than the general population. Onefourth of the parents of children with ADHD (26%) had substance use disorders. Conclusion: In our study, nearly half of the parents had psychiatric morbidities, mainly depressive and anxiety disorders, and nearly a quarter of the parents had substance use disorders.