Maternal Anxiety and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children

Background & aim: according to the previous studies, anxiety along with some other psychiatric disorders is common among mothers of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd). since maternal anxiety affects mother-child interactions, early treatment plays an important role in the prognosis of adhd in children. this study aimed to determine the relationship between maternal anxiety and hyperactivity in children.methods: this study was conducted on 112 mothers of adhd children (aged 6-12 years), selected via convenience sampling from october to december 2012. the subjects lived in districts 2 and 6 of tehran and were referred to consultation centers. depression anxiety stress scale 42 (dass-42) and swanson, nolan and pelham (snap-iv) questionnaires were completed by the subjects. pearson’s correlation coefficient was used for the analysis of the relationship between variables.results: a positive correlation was found between maternal anxiety and children’s hyperactivity (p=0.05). in fact, high levels of maternal anxiety are accounted for various child-rearing problems such as children’s hyperactivity.conclusion: high levels of maternal anxiety lead to child rearing problems, which in turn cause various disorders such as hyperactivity in children.