The negative psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mothers of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a cross-section study

Background ADHD is an important cause for psychiatric care as one of the most prominent neurodevelopmental conditions. Being an ADHD child’s parent is a daunting and sometimes stressful job that becomes more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative consequences. This cross-sectional study was applied to 54 mothers of ADHD children and adolescents; the data of the ADHD children and adolescents have been registered before the lockdown on their regular follow-up visits on the child and adolescent’s clinic of the psychiatry department. Data of the study were collected through an electronic Google form included a COVID-19 questionnaire, The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale—21 Items (DASS-21) (Arabic version), and Conners’ Parent Rating Scale Revised-short version (CPRS-48). We aimed to assess symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms among the mothers of ADHD children and adolescents during COVID-19 outbreaks and determine the relationship between these symptoms and the changed circumstances that occurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, also with the behavioral problem of their children that may deteriorate by their mothers’ psychological state. Results Most of our participants were from the low socioeconomic class and were married. In total, 29.6% of the mother of ADHD children had confirmed COVID-19 cases among their family members, while 11.1% of our subjects lost a family member due to this epidemic, 22% of our sample lost their work because of COVID-19. We found that the COVID-19 pandemic has a big financial drawback on the family of our participants by a percentage of 31.5%. We noticed that 48.1% of our sample documented domestic violence toward them compared to before COVID-19. A total of 92.6% of the mothers who participated in our study assessed the period of change and restrictions as being very demanding. We found that 74.1% of ADHD patients were not compliant with their medications than before the epidemic. Also, we found that the mothers of ADHD children have bigger challenges in managing the child’s meals, structured activities, and sleep compared to before COVID-19. We showed that 53.7% of the mothers had depressive symptoms, 61% had anxiety symptoms, and 53.7% had stress symptoms. These symptoms were statistically associated with the lost family member due to COVID-19, the financial drawbacks of the COVID-19 outbreak, and the domestic violence toward mothers, compared to before COVID-19, the non-compliance of their children on the medications compared to before COVID-19, the presence of confirmed COVID-19 cases among family members, mother’s assessment of the period of change and restrictions as being very demanding compared to before COVID-19, and the non-compliance of their children on the medications compared to before COVID-19 as well as the increased behavioral symptoms of their children. Conclusion COVID-19 pandemic has psychological influences on mothers of children with ADHD. A significant number of them may have depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms that could affect their children’s compliance with the medication and, consequently, their symptomatology.

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

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.