Insecure maternal attachment is associated with depression in ADHD children.

The objective of this study was to analyze the possible association between maternal attachment style and comorbidity associated with childhood ADHD. We evaluated a total of 103 children with ADHD treated at a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Centre and their mothers. Comorbidity was evaluated using the MINI-KID interview. Maternal attachment was evaluated using the Adult Attachment Questionnaire. We considered child variables that could be associated with the clinical course of ADHD, such as symptom severity, age, gender, evolution time, academic level, and current pharmacological treatment; parental variables, such as the mother's psychiatric history, current psychopathology, marital status, academic level, income, and employment, were also considered. We found an association between maternal insecure attachment and comorbid depressive disorder in childhood ADHD. An insecure maternal attachment style must be considered in the assessment and treatment of childhood ADHD with comorbid depression.

Maternal psychiatric history is associated with the symptom severity of ADHD in offspring.

Controversy exists about the role of parent psychopathology in persistence and severity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in their children. Here we aimed to analyse the potential association between the severity of ADHD symptoms in children and the presence of psychiatric and ADHD symptoms in their biological parents. Seventy-three triads of children and their parents who were in active treatment for their diagnosed ADHD were evaluated in our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Centers. The mental health of the parents was also assessed. The general psychopathology of the parents was evaluated using the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), and symptoms of hyperactivity were examined using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS v.1.1). The severity of symptoms in children was assessed using the ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHD-RS-IV). Variables that could have affected the clinical development of ADHD such as sex, evolution time, age, academic level and the presence of comorbidities were controlled. The severity of the symptoms in children with ADHD was significantly related to the psychiatric history of their mother, the younger age of the child and the presence of a comorbid conduct disorder in the child. We discussed the importance of screening for parental psychopathology in clinical practice.