Psychological Health and Quality of Life among Ultra-orthodox Mothers of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Impact of Occupational Experiences

Abstract

Background Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neuro-developmental health condition in children and adolescents. Parenting a child with ADHD can profoundly affect mothers’ health. Research is limited regarding occupational experiences and their impact on health among mothers of children with ADHD (MoCwADHD). Ultra-orthodox MoCwADHD may have unique cultural circumstances that have not been studied. Aims To broaden understanding of parental stress, psychological health, and quality of life (QoL) of ultra-orthodox MoCwADHD and explore a possible role of occupational experiences on these outcomes. Methods Ultra-orthodox MoCwADHD (N = 114) completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and measurements to assess child ADHD symptomatology, mother’s ADHD, parental stress, psychological health, QoL, and occupational experiences. Results Participants displayed moderate parental stress, and 54.9 percent also showed psychological distress symptoms, similar to the literature on MoCwADHD in the general population. Frequency of engagement in health promoting occupations reflected patterns in line with cultural beliefs. Structure Equation Modeling showed that child ADHD negatively affected mothers’ stress, psychological health and QoL. Importantly, occupational experiences directly and indirectly, via parental stress, impacted psychological health and QoL. Conclusions MoCwADHD impacts maternal health in the ultra-orthodox population and occupational experiences may be a modifiable target for promoting their health.