The evaluation of psychopathology and quality of life in aged 11-17 years siblings of cases diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) negatively affects the entire family together with the diagnosed case. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the psychopathology and quality of life in aged 11-17 years siblings of ADHD cases and to compare the siblings with each other and with controls according to whether the cases with ADHD received treatment or not. Our sample consisted of siblings of ADHD cases who newly diagnosed (ND-ADHD-SBL, n=45), siblings of ADHD cases who have been followed up and treated for at least six months (FLW-ADHD-SBL, n=45) and siblings of subjects who have no active psychopathology and with similar sociodemographic characteristics to the two groups (control, n=45). Firstly, all siblings (ADHD-SBL, n=90) were compared with controls without making any distinction between newly diagnosed/followed up. After that, ND-ADHD-SBL, FLW-ADHD-SBL, and the control groups were evaluated. In the evaluation sociodemographic data form, Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (6-18 Years) - Present and Lifetime Version, DSM-5 November 2016 (K-SADS-PL-DSM-5), The Children's Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Adolescent/Parent Form, Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory-Child/Adolescent/Parent Form, Conners' Parent/Teacher Rating Scale/Revised Long, DSM-IV Based Screening and Evaluation Scale for Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders were used. It was determined that the ADHD-SBL group experienced significantly more difficulties on most of the scales, their perception of quality of life was more negative, and the frequency of current/past diagnosis was significantly higher according to K-SADS-PL-DSM-5 than the controls. Depression/anxiety scores of the subjects who were not diagnosed according to K-SADS-PL-DSM-5 in the ADHD-SBL group were also significantly higher than the controls. Lower maternal age and presence of maternal psychiatric illness increased the probability of K-SADS-PL-DSM-5 diagnosis in the siblings. ND-ADHD-SBL and FLW-ADHD-SBL groups did not differ significantly among themselves in terms of the frequency of diagnosis according to K-SADS-PL-DSM-5. In this study, it was observed that the siblings of ADHD cases were affected more negatively in terms of psychopathology and quality of life than the siblings of subjects without ADHD. The findings from longitudinal studies with larger samples will provide clearer data on the difficulties of the siblings of children with ADHD. Key Words: ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, sibling, psychopathology, quality of life