Quality of Life in the Mothers of Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and its Effective Factors

Abstract

Background and aims: Having a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may have an impact on the quality of life of his/her parents, particularly his/her mother. However, very limited studies have addressed this issue in Iran and the world. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the quality of life in the mothers of children with ADHD and its effective factors. Methods: The present descriptive-analytic study was carried out in Tehran from April to September 2016. A total of 110 mothers of ADHD children were enrolled in the study through a convenience sampling method, who referred to psychiatric centers of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. An informed consent form was obtained from all the participants as well. In addition, a researcher-made checklist for demographic characteristics and the 36-item Short Form of Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) were utilized for data collection. The collected data were then entered into SPSS 16 statistical software. Finally, descriptive tests (mean and median) and statistical tests including Pearson correlation test, independent t test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for data analysis. Results: The mean age of participated mothers was 39.5 years and most children were males (76.4%). The mean overall score of the quality of life was 60.6±20.4. Among the eight dimensions of the questionnaire, participants achieved the lowest score regarding the dimension of "the role limitations due to emotional problems" with the mean score of 52.43, while the highest score was observed in terms of "the physical function" dimension with the mean score of 77.30. No significant relationship was observed between any of the demographic characteristics and the mean overall score of the quality of life (P>0.05). Conclusion: In the present study, the quality of life of the mothers was not significantly different from the quality of life of normal mothers. However, the healthcare team should pay more attention regarding some dimensions of the quality of life. Eventually, similar studies are recommended to be conducted due to the lack of sufficient evidence regarding this issue among the mothers of ADHD children.