Evaluación de los efectos positivos de un tratamiento multimodal para niños con déficit atencional con hiperactividad en la atención primaria de salud desde la perspectiva de madres usuarias

Abstract

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is defined as a neuropsychiatric picture of behavioral manifestation, chronic, symptomatically evolutive and of probable genetic transmission (Aboitiz & Carrasco, 2009) that impacts the different areas of development, for the child and his family (Silver, 2010). Research has shown that students with ADHD have a higher educational risk, due not only to academic and learning difficulties, but also to social difficulties, rejection of their peers and a decrease in teaching expectations (Valero, 2013). One of the most notorious characteristics, throughout the life cycle, is the frequent association that ADHD presents with other psychiatric disorders; anxious, affective and oppositional disorders (Larson, Russ, Khan & Halfon, 2011), the latter being the most prevalent in children and adolescents (Garrido, 2013). In coherence with the above, the World Health Organization (WHO) has established that psychiatric disorders that begin in childhood or adolescence should be a priority for Public Health (Vicente, Saldivia, De la Barra, Melipillán, Valdivia & Kohn 2012). In Chile, it is approached from an integral and interdisciplinary perspective from Primary Health Care, based on the evidence that multimodal treatment is ideally recommended for its approach, understanding it as a multidisciplinary treatment according to the biopsychosocial model seeks to complement resources psychopharmacological, psychotherapeutic and psychopedagogical. The present investigation seeks to know what is the perception of the effects of a multimodal treatment in mothers with children diagnosed with ADHD, in a Family Health Center. A qualitative design of descriptive type was used, using the focused individual interview as a technique. The sample consisted of four maternal figures, who accessed the interviews after having duly signed an informed consent. An analysis of the conventional content of the interviews was carried out, with triangulation by researchers and experts. The results indicate the perception of the effects on: the individual development of the child, the family dynamics and the school environment. In relation to the individual development of the child, perceptions of the effects of treatment in the emotional, behavioral and social areas have been identified. In the family dynamics, two aspects are recognized, one related to the performance of the role of the parents and the other related to the relationship between mother and child. Regarding paternal roles, they indicate greater participation on the part of the father, changes in the organization of family daily life, in the parenting patterns, in the behavioral management of themselves and a greater satisfaction with their maternal role. Regarding the relationship, mothers perceive a greater level of empathy, the promotion of more autonomy and an improvement in the expression of affects. Regarding the perception of the effects of treatment in the school environment, improvements in school adaptation, performance, interpersonal relationships and school behavior are identified. We mainly discuss the perceived progress in the affective field, where the findings show improvements in self-esteem and emotional maturity, by observing their children more cheerful, expressive, communicative and with greater self-confidence, better quality social relationships that impact on a better quality of life for both the child and his family. The need for a depathologizing and integral vision of the child in the intervention processes is emphasized, with emphasis on their competences and family interaction, where reorganization processes, changes of roles and parenting patterns are more functional to the needs of the child. Regarding the limitations of this study, we can mention the small number of participants, which could affect the richness of the experiences of the phenomenon studied. Likewise, it is estimated that for future research it would be relevant to know the perception of the child and other significant actors, such as parents and teachers.