Disease process management experiences of parents of adolescents with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

This research is a phenomenological qualitative research in order to investigate the experiences of parents with ADHD diagnosed children between 12-18 years in the management of the disease process. The study population consisted of the parents of children aged between 12-18 years with ADHD who applied to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Kars Harakani State Hospital in May 2019. The research was completed with 10 parents (8 mothers, 1 father and one uncle (primary caregiver) who applied to the child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic and accepted to participate in the study. Research data were obtained by semi-structured interviews with socio-demographic data form and semi-structured interview questions including the introductory information of children and parents participating in the research. Semi-Structured Interview Questions were analyzed Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used in the process. In this study, parents' experience of managing the disease process is in line with the literature; ''the responses of parents to the disease'', ''difficulties in managing the disease process'', ''coping behaviors of the disease process'' and ''inferences about managing the disease process well'' are examined. As a result of the research, positive and negative perceptions and experiences of the parents against the experiences of managing the disease process were determined. When the findings from the themes and sub-themes were evaluated, it was found that many of the parents felt sadness and concern about their child's condition and showed mourning reactions such as denial and shock, but also developed positive perspectives and an effort to become stronger after accepting the disease. Keywords; attention deficit and hiperactivity disorder; adolescent; disease management; phenomenology.