Psychiatric symptoms and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the parents of dyslexic individuals

In this study, mental, attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms of parents of individuals diagnosed with dyslexia and non-dyslexic individuals have been compered. Both of the sampling groups consisted of fifty people. Participants live in Izmir. The purpose of this study is to investigate psychological, attention deficit hyperactivity symptoms of parents of individuals diagnosed with dyslexia. Psychological symptoms have been examined on the basis of Symptom Checklist-90-R. Somatization, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, hostility, psychosis, phobic anxiety, paranoid thoughts and interpersonal sensitivity are the sub-measures. Attention deficit hyperactivity symptoms have been studied on the basis of Adult ADD/ADHD DSM IV- Based Diagnostic Screening and Rating Scale (Turgay,1995). Attention deficit, hyperactivity and impulsivity are associated features as the sub-measures. This research is a descriptive study. The participants were selected randomly on a volunteer basis from a population of parents of children diagnosed with dyslexia in medical faculties or training and research hospitals. SCL-90 R is a self-report measure and participants responded to items by themselves. ADHD rating scale has been filled in through interviews by the researcher. Individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disorders were not included in this study. In the control grub, parents of individuals with no dyslexia diagnosis were taken part. The collected data were analyzed by IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 software and Mann Whitney U tests was used for the reliability analysis, frequency analysis. It has been ascertained that there is a reasonable differentiation between the sampling groups with respect to their personal characteristics associated with the symptoms of somatization, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid thoughts, impulsivity, hyperactivity and attention deficit problems. It has been observed that parents of dyslectic individuals have gotten higher points in the areas of interpersonal sensitivity, psychosis and attention deficit symptoms. According to the results of this research, further investigations are recommended about whether there is a relationship between dyslexia and psychotic symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity and attention deficit problems .