Peer-reviewed article
What Is the Health and Well-Being Burden for Parents Living With a Child With ADHD in the United Kingdom?
Tessa Peasgood, Anupam Bhardwaj, John Brazier, Katie Biggs, David Coghill et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study measured the health and well-being burden on parents and carers in the United Kingdom who live with children aged 6-18 years diagnosed with ADHD. Researchers recruited families through 15 NHS trusts and compared them to control groups using validated health measures. Parents of children with ADHD reported significantly worse sleep quality and quantity, less satisfaction with leisure time, and lower health-related quality of life compared to control families. The study found mixed results for impacts on mental well-being and relationship satisfaction depending on which comparison group was used.
Key points
- Childhood ADHD had significant negative impacts on parents' sleep hours and sleep quality
- Parents reported reduced satisfaction with leisure time and lower health-related quality of life (EQ-5D)
- Mental well-being scores (S-WEMWBS) and life satisfaction showed decrements but findings were not consistent across all control group comparisons
- No significant differences were found in satisfaction with health, self-reported health status, or satisfaction with income
- Study used careful adjustments to ensure like-for-like comparison, controlling for parental ADHD, employment, and relationship status
Limitations
The study used families attending ADHD clinics, which may not represent all families with ADHD children and could introduce selection bias. The document does not provide information about the long-term effects or whether impacts vary by ADHD severity, child age, or other child characteristics.
Abstract
Objective: To explore the burden associated with childhood ADHD in a large observational study. Methods: We recruited familes with at least one child (6-18 years) with ADHD via 15 NHS trusts in the UK, and collected data from all family members. We made careful adjustments to ensure a like-for-like comparison with two different control groups, and explored the impact of controlling for a positive parental/carer ADHD screen, employment, and relationship status. Results: We found significant negative impacts of childhood ADHD on parents’/carers’ hours and quality of sleep, satisfaction with leisure time, and health-related quality of life (measured by the EuroQol-5D [EQ-5D]). We found a decrement in life satisfaction, mental well-being (as measured by the Short–Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale [S-WEMWBS]), and satisfaction with intimate relationships, but this was not always robust across the different control groups. We did not find any decrement in satisfaction with health, self-reported health status, or satisfaction with income. Conclusion: The study quantifies the impact on the health and well-being of parents living with a child with ADHD using a survey of families attending ADHD clinics in the United Kingdom.