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Quality of life improvement in children with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder reduces family's strain: A structural equation model approach
Author(s) -
Rocco Ilaria,
Bonati Maurizio,
Corso Barbara,
Minicuci Nadia
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/cch.12874
Subject(s) - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , quality of life (healthcare) , observational study , structural equation modeling , attention deficit , medicine , burden of disease , disease , clinical psychology , psychology , psychiatry , statistics , nursing , mathematics , pathology
Objectives The objective of the study is to analyse how the quality of life of children diagnosed with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) impacts the relationship between disease severity and family burden. Method The data collected by a longitudinal, observational study involving 1478 children with ADHD residing in 10 European countries (aged 6 to 18 years) were analysed to evaluate the relationships between ADHD severity, the children's quality of life and family burden. Results The disorder's severity directly and indirectly affected the children's health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) and family burden. The degree of family burden was modulated by the children's HRQoL. Conclusions One of the primary causes of the stress experienced by parents of children with ADHD is their perception of the child's reduced HRQoL and not the symptom severity itself. Efforts to minimize symptom severity cannot alone reduce family burden.