This study aimed to examine the association between specific maternal characteristics (i.e., parents&rsquo / personality, depression, anxiety, affective state, and coping strategies) and childhood ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and Conduct Disorder (CD) symptoms in children with and without the diagnosis of ADHD. Method: Data was obtained from 231 subjects including mothers of 77 children who were just diagnosed by Child Mental Health Departments of Hacettepe University or IMGE Child Mental Health Center and 154 children without any psychiatric diagnosis, who were receiving education from Nebahat Keskin Elementary School. Among 154 non-diagnosed subjects the ones who match best with the 77 ADHD group participants were chosen, considering ages of the children, income of the family, and education of the mother. Results and Discussion: (1) Psychometric Characteristics of the TBFI and CARSS were examined. The internal consistency coefficients of the TBFI varied from .51 (for Agreeableness) to .75 (for Neuroticism) and all subscales of CARSS had moderate to high degree of internal consistencies ranging from .65 (Conduct Disorder) to .92. (e.g., Attention Deficit). Additionally, concurrent validity of TBFI and criterion validity of CARSS were studied. Results revealed that TBFI had sufficient internal consistency and validity, and also revealed that CARSS was a highly reliable and valid measure, successfully differentiating the diagnosed group from the non-diagnosed group on each subscale. (2) Group differences on maternal characteristics were examined. Compared to non-diagnosed children, children with ADHD had mothers with higher Depression symptoms, higher Negative Affect, higher Neuroticism, lower Positive Affect. (3) Regression analyses, which were conducted separately for each group and the whole group, revealed that different maternal characteristics were associated with symptoms of diagnosed and non-diagnosed children. In general while symptom levels of children, who have ADHD diagnosis, was associated with higher maternal Negative and lower Positive Affect and higher Depression and Anxiety symptoms, and lower Extraversion scores / symptom level of Comparison children was associated more with Conscientiousness. These differences were explained by means of the fit between maternal characteristics and vulnerability, lower tolerance, lower adaptation, and compensation skills of children with ADHD (when compared to Comparison group). Results addressed the importance of maternal factors regarding its association with presence, and the severity of ADHD and comorbid symptoms of children.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12605566/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 December 2004 |
| Creators | Evinc, Gulin S. |
| Contributors | Gencoz, Tulin |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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