Investigation of alexithymia, depression and childhood ADHD symptom levels in parents of children with ADHD

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the severity of alexithymia, depression and childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in the biological parents of children with ADHD and to investigate the relationship between scale scores. Methods: Sixty-four children diagnosed with ADHD according to the DSM-5 criterion based on clinical interview and Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Interview for School Children and their parents who admitted to Adnan Menderes University Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Outpatient Clinic and 64 children who did not have a psychiatric diagnosis and their parents admitted to Pediatrics Outpatient Clinic between January 2015 and December 2015 were included. Parents filled out socio-demographic data form, DSM-IV-Based Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Disorders Screening and Rating Scale-parent form (T-DSM-IV-S), Wender-Utah Rating Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and Beck De-pression Inventory. Results: It was found that childhood ADHD symptom levels and present depressive symptom levels in parents of children with ADHD were higher than the control group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of alexithymia levels. In addition, there was a positive moderate correlation be-tween total score, hyperactivity subscale, opposition defiant disorder subscale of T-DSM-IV-S and difficulty de-scribing feelings, total and difficulty identifying feelings subscale scores of TAS-20 whereas there was no significant relationship between total score and subscale scores of T-DSM-IV-S and TAS-20 externally-oriented thinking. Discussion: Results showed that parents of children with ADHD whose hyperactivity and opposing defiant symp-tom severity are high, are more likely to experience difficulty in describing and identifying feelings. Additionally, due to the high severity of depressive symptoms in parents of children with ADHD, we believe that investigation the presence of mental disorders in parents and the implementation of appropriate parental intervention programs will contribute positively to the success of follow-up and treatment of children with ADHD