Relationship between children’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and family characteristics

Objective To investigate the correlation between the incidence of the children's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) and family environment and to provide evidence for intervention of the disease.Methods With a questionnaire survey among the parents,a total of 2 136 children aged 4-5 years in Binzhou city,Shandong province were randomly selected by stratified sampling.Interviews were conducted by experts to diagnose suspected ADHD cases.Results The morbidity rate of ADHD in the children was 5.9%(125/2 136) and 7.3% for the boys(84/1 145),4.1% for the girls(41/991).The prevalence of ADHD of the boys was significantly higher than that of the girls(χ²=9.87,P < 0.01).For the 125 ADHD children,the proportion of ADHD-predominantly inattention was 45.6%(57),ADHD-predominantly hyperactive impulsive was 35.2%(44),and ADHD-combined was 19.2%(24).The results of unconditional multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that the risk factors for children ADHD were male,living in remarried family,poor health condition of the mother,use of violence of the mother,and tight parents relationship.Conclusion Adverse family environment is a risk factor for children ADHD.