The effect of parenting training program on depression, anxiety and stress of mothers of children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder

Living with children suffering from Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder may lead to significant psychological problems such as stress, anxiety, and depression for their parents. For decreasing these problems, using psychological interventions is necessary. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of a parenting education program on depression, anxiety, and stress of mothers with Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder children.

The present study was a field  trial study conducted in psychiatric clinics affiliated to Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in 2015. Sixty four mothers who had children with attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder with moderate to high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were selected by simple and non-random sampling. The selected samples were assigned based on a randomized block design between two groups of the intervention and control groups. Mothers in the intervention group participated in 8 sessions of parenting training classes based on the Saunders protocol. Mothers in the control group received routine care. Before and one month after the intervention, motherschr('39') depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-42(. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney Test, Chi-square,  Independent Sample T Test  and Paired Sample T Test.

Participants in the two groups did not differ from each other in terms of demographics variables such as age, sex, education, and age of the mother and child (p> 0.05). The mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress in mothers in the intervention and control groups before the training program were 19.06, 15.2, 20.8, and 17.8, 16.1, 21.1, respectively. Based on the results of the independent t-test, the difference between the means score between the two groups was not significant (p> 0.05). The mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress in mothers in the intervention and control groups after the training program were 14.7, 12.5, 16.5, and 18.2, 16.1, 20.5, respectively. Based on the results of the independent t-test, the difference between the means score between the two groups was statistically significant (p <0.05).

Parenting education to mothers of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder as a non-pharmacological psychological intervention significantly reduced the rate of psychological disorders among them. It is recommended that in the form of holistic medicine and nursing, this method be used to empower mothers who have children with attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder.