Knowledge and Attitude of Parents of Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Towards the Illness

BACKGROUND: The knowledge and attitude of parents about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a public health issue in which management and rehabilitation approaches may be influenced. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of the parents of children with ADHD towards this disorder in Tabriz, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current cross-sectional study evaluated 295 parents of children and adolescents with ADHD referred to psychiatric clinics of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The subjects were diagnosed based on Kiddie schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-aged children (K-SADS) and recruited according to a convenience sampling method in the first five months of 2014. The parents’ knowledge and attitude towards ADHD was studied by a researcher-made questionnaire. RESULTS: The overall knowledge of parents was 66% in which 76.72% were aware of related signs and symptoms and 43.38% were able to identify the aberrations. Meanwhile, 44.62% of the parents knew the etiology and 54.75% had information about treatment strategies. In addition, 33.55%, 37.91%, 25.52% were aware of ADHD consequences, diagnosis and prevalence dimensions, respectively. Moreover, 82.72% of the parents had a positive attitude towards ADHD. A positive correlation was found between parents’ attitude towards ADHD and their overall knowledge (identification, etiology, treatment, consequences and prevalence dimensions), ranging from 0.12 to 0.36 (P < 0.50). Age, gender, and place of residence did not have a correlation with parents’ knowledge and attitude towards ADHD. Parent’s education level only had a positive correlation with the knowledge of symptoms, with a value of 0.19 (P < 0.01). Parents with a higher overall knowledge, knowledge of ADHD symptoms, and prevalence rates accepted combination therapy (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: While the overall knowledge of parents regarding ADHD was favorable, they were mostly unable to identify the aberrations in children with ADHD. These results may help practitioners address pitfalls in parent management training programs.