General health, sense of coherence and coping styles in parents participating in Workshops for Parents of Hyperactive Children.

OBJECTIVES

The assessment of changes in the general health, sense of coherence and stress coping styles in parents of children and adolescents with ADHD, participating in 12-week Workshops for Parents of Hyperactive Children.

METHODS

The experimental group included 186 mothers and 139 fathers (parents of 199 children); the reference group included 23 mothers and 19 fathers (parents of 24 children), attending 1-2 standard medical visits within a 12-week period (treatment as usual). Parents from both groups were assessed twice using (1) the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), (2) the Life Orientation Questionnaire (SOC-29), and (3) the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS).

RESULTS

(1) The experimental group showed a significant improvement in the severity of somatic symptoms and anxiety/insomnia in mothers and the general well-being of mothers and fathers. We observed the influence of workshops on manageability and reduction of the emotion-oriented coping in mothers; (2) the participation in the workshops was associated with a statistically significant effect (mostly moderate) in relation to general health of mothers, while TAU was mostly associated with a low or insignificant effect.

CONCLUSIONS

The assessed form of interventions improves the functioning of parents of children with ADHD.