Anxiety and depression in parents of a Brazilian non-clinical sample of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) students

Abstract

Higher prevalence rates of anxiety and depression have been reported in parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The interaction between the burden of ADHD in offspring, a higher prevalence rate of this highly inherited disorder in parents, and comorbidities may explain this finding. Our objective was to investigate levels of ADHD, anxious and depressive symptomatology, and their relationship in parents of ADHD children from a non-clinical sample using a dimensional approach. The sample included 396 students enrolled in all eight grades of a public school who were screened for ADHD using the SNAP IV rating scale. Positive cases were confirmed through a semi-structured interview. Parents of all 26 ADHD students and 31 paired controls were enrolled. A sample of 36 parents of ADHD children (21 mothers, 15 fathers) and 30 parents of control children (18 mothers, 12 fathers) completed the Adult Self Report Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory in order to investigate anxious and depressive symptomatology. Probands' mothers presented a higher level of ADHD symptomatology (with only inattention being a significant cluster). Again, mothers of ADHD children presented higher depressive and anxiety levels; however, these did not correlate with their own ADHD symptomatology. Only trait-anxiety levels were higher in ADHD mothers. Our findings suggest that: 1) anxious and depressive symptoms might be more prevalent in mothers of ADHD students; 2) anxious and depressive symptomatology might be independent of impairment associated with ADHD symptoms; 3) anxious and depressive symptoms are independent of the presence of ADHD.

Parental psychopathology in families of children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy

“…These results corroborate data from earlier studies examining parental psychopathology of children with ADHD (Barkley et al., , ; Befera & Barkley, ; Biederman et al., ; Chronis et al., , ; Epstein et al., ; Faraone & Biederman, ; Gadow et al., ; Ghanizadeh et al., ; Goldstein et al., ; Margari et al., ; Psychogiou et al., ; Scahill et al., ; Segenreich et al., ; Steinhausen et al., ), while adding an important new dimension to the analysis. In most of the earlier studies, parents showed higher levels of ADHD symptoms.…”

“…ADHD, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; MSDP, maternal smoking during pregnancy v 2 , chi-square statistic; df, degrees of freedom. Goldstein et al, 2007;Margari et al, 2013;Psychogiou et al, 2007;Scahill et al, 1999;Segenreich et al, 2009;Steinhausen et al, 2013), while adding an important new dimension to the analysis. In most of the earlier studies, parents showed higher levels of ADHD symptoms.…”

“…Several studies have examined the familial aggregation of ADHD and related psychopathology (Barkley, Fischer, Edelbrock, & Smallish, 1991;Barkley, McMurray, Edelbrock, & Robbins, 1989;Befera & Barkley, 1985;Biederman et al, 1992;Chronis, Gamble, Roberts, & Pelham, 2006;Chronis et al, 2003;Epstein et al, 2000;Faraone & Biederman, 1997;Gadow et al, 2000;Ghanizadeh, Mohammadi, & Moini, 2008;Goldstein et al, 2007;Margari et al, 2013;Psychogiou, Daley, Thompson, & Sonuga-Barke, 2007;Scahill et al, 1999;Segenreich, Fortes, Coutinho, Pastura, & Mattos, 2009;Steinhausen et al, 2013). Most studies, using either community-based or clinic-referred samples, have reported an elevated level of psychopathology in parents of children with ADHD.…”

Multilevel analysis of ADHD, anxiety and depression symptoms aggregation in families

“…Another shortcoming of family studies in ADHD is the occurrence of disorders, which may mimic ADHD symptoms, such as, anxiety and depression-an aspect addressed by both DSM-IV and 5 in criterion E. Different research groups [14][15][16][17][18], including ours, have demonstrated high comorbidity rates with anxiety and depression, both in the offspring and in parents [19]. Family studies need to consider gender effects on the aggregation of symptoms, a phenomenon referred to as 'parent of origin effect' [20,21].…”

Personality Profile of Parents of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…A study showed that mothers of children with ADHD+ODD/CD suffered from mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and dependence on stimulant/cocaine and fathers suffered from alcohol consumption [ 16 ]. Another report indicated that symptoms of anxiety and depression in mothers of children with ADHD were more prevalent [ 17 ]. In another study, it was reported that fathers suffered from psychiatric illness with higher frequency than mothers so that 87% of parents of ADHD children had a history of substance use disorder [ 7 ].…”