Iranian Children With ADHD and Mental Health of Their Mothers: The Role of Stress.
BACKGROUND
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a psychiatric disorder that can result in stress for the mother, resulting in poor health.


OBJECTIVE
The current study, conducted in 2012, aims to assess stress among forty-six Iranian mothers of ADHD children (Group 1) who were admitted to a psychiatric center in Tehran with forty-six Iranian mothers of normal children (Group 2) in 2012.


METHODS
The Child Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4), the child behavior checklist (CBCL) and the parental stress index-short form (PSI/SF) were completed. Data was analyzed using the Levene test and the independent t-test in SPSS Version 18.


RESULTS
With the exception of mood, ADHD children had more problems in attention compared with normal children. As a result, mothers of ADHD children had more stress compared with the controls.


CONCLUSIONS
ADHD can impair a mother's mental health by inducing stress. Specific diagnostic and treatment programs should be designed and tailored for the mothers of ADHD children in order to decrease stress.
Ma, Government Management, Department of Expert Customers Care, Agriculture Bank, Semnan, IR Iran.
Mohammadreza
M
Babakhanian
Social Worker, Shahid Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Soraya
S
Sayar
PhD Student in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Mazandaran, IR Iran.
Masaudeh
M
Babakhanian
Pediatrics, Velayat Hospital, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, IR Iran.
Gholamreza
G
Mohammadi
ADHD; Attention; Hyperactivity; Iran; Stress; Treatment