Abstract            Volume:4  Issue-9  Year-2016         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. Since parents (father and mother) and teachers are directly associated with the academic and behavioral problems in children, they play a key role in the identification, referral and treatment of children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is therefore important that parents have the necessary knowledge about this disorder to achieve the earlier diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. The present study compares the parents' knowledge about ADHD. In a descriptive analytical study 354 (pairs of) parents are studied as convenient samples to compare fathers’ and mothers’ knowledge about ADHD. In this study KADDS (Knowledge of attention deficit disorder scale) (16 and 17), plus a questionnaire on the demographic information are used. And finally using the t tests and chi-square test of SPSS version 20 the data are analyzed. Test results show that the mean general knowledge of ADHD in the group of mothers (M = 5.96, SD = 2.30) is significantly higher than the group of fathers. (M = 5.55, SD = 2. 58)Also the mean level of knowledge about ADHD in the group of mothers (M = 4.12, SD = 1.69) is significantly higher than fathers (M = 3.79, SD = 2.1). However the results of t-test for independent samples indicates the lack of significant difference between the mean level of knowledge about symptoms and how to diagnose ADHD in the group of fathers and mothers. Mean level of knowledge about ADHD treatment in the group of mothers (M = 4.12, SD = 1.69) is significantly more than fathers (M = 3.79, SD = 2.1). The results also indicate that there is a significant relationship between parents' knowledge and education (P <0.001) but there is no significant relationship between age and residence location. In general, the level of general knowledge and the knowledge about how to treat the disorder in mothers is higher than fathers and indicates the need to train parents, especially fathers of ADHD patients also these results suggest mothers as more suitable option to participate in ADHD children treatment.

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