title: Stress levels experienced by parents of children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during the back-to-school period: results of a European and Canadian survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The back-to-school stress survey was designed to compare stress in parents of children/ adolescents with/without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in six European countries and Canada when children prepare to return to school.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents of children/adolescents (6-17 years) with/without ADHD were recruited and interviewed by a consumer research organization. Parents rated potentially stress-causing situations (both standard and specifically related to the return to school) on a scale from 1 (low stress) to 10 (high stress). Mean scores were compared using Student's t-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In Europe, 613/693 (mean [SD] age: 40.7 [7.0]/40.1 [6.9] years) and in Canada, 102/150 (mean [SD] age: 44.4 [8.1]/44.1 [7.2] years) parents of children with/without ADHD, respectively, participated in the survey. Children with ADHD (mean [SD] age: 11.2 [3.2]/12.6 [3.2] years in Europe/Canada) had generally similar characteristics in both samples. Parents in the ADHD group showed higher stress levels than parents in the non-ADHD group in all situations (p < 0.001 for Europe). The return to school was considered one of the most stressful events during the year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Europe and Canada, ADHD has a significant impact on parental stress, particularly during the back-to-school period. This can have important implications as parental stress can affect presentation of ADHD symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UGC Salud Mental, University Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Hospital Maritimo , Malaga , Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hernández-Otero
authors.forename: Lakshman
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Doddamani
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dutray
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gagliano
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haertling
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bloomfield
authors.forename: Gracita
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ramnath
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000523:psychology*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012574:Schools; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: ADHD; Back-to-school stress survey; online survey; parental stress; school