What time periods of the day are concerning for parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?
OBJECTIVE
The questionnaire-children with difficulties (QCD) is a parent-assessed questionnaire designed to evaluate a child's difficulties in functioning during specific time periods of the day. In this study, the QCD was applied to determine the time periods of the day that are concerning for the parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The results were compared with those for a community sample.


METHODS
Elementary and junior high school students with ADHD (243 boys, 55 girls) and a community sample of children (518 boys, 618 girls) were enrolled in this study. Their behaviors were assessed by the QCD, the ADHD-rating scale (ADHD-RS), and the Oppositional Defiant Behavior Inventory (ODBI). The effects of gender (boy/girl) and diagnosis (ADHD/community sample) on the total QCD score were analyzed across each school grade (elementary/junior high school). Correlation coefficients between QCD and ADHD-RS/ODBI scores were analyzed.


RESULTS
The QCD score for the ADHD group was significantly lower than that for the community sample (P < 0.001). There were significantly strong correlations between "evening" and ADHD-RS and ODBI scores for all children with ADHD (r > 0.41, P < 0.001) and between "night" and inattention and oppositional symptoms for the girls with ADHD (r > 0.40, P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Parents reported that children with ADHD faced greater difficulties in completing basic daily activities compared with the community controls, particularly in the evening. Furthermore, these difficulties were related to the severity of ADHD symptoms. The parents' perceptions depended on the gender, ADHD and oppositional symptoms, and the time period of the day. This study determined that children with ADHD face greater difficulties in daily functioning compared with community sample children, that these difficulties are time-dependent, and that these difficulties were particularly experienced in the evening.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Ichikawa, Japan.
Masahide
M
Usami
Takashi
T
Okada
Daimei
D
Sasayama
Yoshitaka
Y
Iwadare
Kyota
K
Watanabe
Hirokage
H
Ushijima
Masaki
M
Kodaira
Nobuhiro
N
Sugiyama
Tetsuji
T
Sawa
Kazuhiko
K
Saito
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D013997:Time Factors