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Levels of self-reported depression among mothers of children with Attention-Deficit! Hyperactivity Disorder

The Graduate School of Education, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Perth 6009, Western Australia. Phone: 618 9 380 3985; fax: 618 9 380 1052; johnwest{at}ecel.uwa.edu.au

S. Houghton

G. Douglas

M. Wall

K. Whiting

Objective: The aims of the present research were to identify levels of depression in mothers of children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and to determine whether maternal depressive severity varied according to the child's ADHD subtype.

Method: Data were obtained using the self-administered Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) which was completed and returned by 80 mothers from a randomly selected clinical sample.

Conclusions: Mothers of ADHD Combined Type children self-report significantly higher levels of depressive severity than mothers of ADHD Predominantly Inattentive Type children. Furthermore, mothers of more than one ADHD child report significantly higher levels of depression than mothers of a single ADHD child. The results suggest that there may be serious maternal health consequences associated with parenting a child (or children) with ADHD, particularly for mothers of ADHD Combined Type children or mothers of more than one ADHD child. Furthermore, the differences between mothers' BDI scores according to their child's ADHD subtype suggests that depression in mothers of ADHD children is not a homogeneous entity and that future intervention strategies may need to be adapted accordingly.

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