Parents may also be at risk of ADHD

WASHINGTON - The parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may also have learning or mental disorders and should also be screened, say US researchers.

A University of Maryland study found that parents of children diagnosed with ADHD were 24 times more likely to suffer from the complaint themselves than parents of children without the disorder.

ADHD is genetic, although not all parents of children with the problem suffer from the ailment, said Andrea Chronis, who led the study.

"All of the treatments are less effective when parents have their own problems," she said.

"Unfortunately, when the parents have a psychological problem, they are less able to modify the environment in a way that is effective for the child.

"For that we reason we need to look beyond the child to identify and treat parental problems that may influence treatment for the child."

Her team followed 200 children with ADHD. The researchers, who had been watching the children since 1995, also checked their parents for depression.

They found that parents of preschoolers with ADHD who also had other behavioural problems such as aggressive behaviour were two to five times more likely to have a mental health problem such as drug addiction, anxiety or depression.

Symptoms of ADHD were often mixed up with those of other mental health disorders, Chronis said.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry last month.

- REUTERS