The recognition of dysthymic disorder and anxiety disorders and their management in primary school-age children with ADHD-CT is generally poorly understood. The identification and elucidation of composite anxiety and depressive phenomena that may be systematically investigated through longitudinal studies of epidemiologically derived samples is needed in this particular group of children.
In this study, standardized assessments of maternal psychopathology, family functioning and marital adjustment were compared between 115 medication naïve, clinically referred primary school age children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder combined type (ADHD-CT) alone and 29 children with comorbid dysthymic disorder (DD) and ADHD-CT. The mothers of children with ADHD-CT and DD reported higher rates of anxiety and depression than those of children with ADHD-CT alone. These results reinforce the need for early recognition of comorbid DD when working with children with ADHD-CT. Increased rates of maternal anxiety and depression in children with ADHD-CT and DD may contribute to the children's symptoms, require specific psychological and/or medication treatments and careful ongoing monitoring of these specific treatments.
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