Is There a Difference in Parental Attitudes and Attachment for ADHD-Social Phobia Comorbidity?

Abstract

Objective: Social phobia (SP) is one the most common of comorbid anxiety disorders seen with ADHD. It is also known that social phobia and ADHD patients have some differences in parental attitudes and attachment styles. This study aims to investigate the effects of attachment status and parental attitudes in ADHD-social phobia comorbidity.Methods: 66 children and adolescents with ADHD were included in the study. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School -Age Children -Present and Lifetime Version, DSM-5 November 2016-Turkish Adaptation (KSADS-PL-DSM5-T) was used for evaluating diagnosis. Socioeconomic status (SES) was scored using the Hollingshead Redlich Scale. Sociodemographic and clinical data were recorded. Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) and Parental Attitudes Research Instrument (PARI) were filled in by the parents. The patients filled in the Kerns Security Scale (KSS). We compared the ADHD patients with and without SAD comorbidity in terms of scales used and sociodemographic-clinical variables. Results: There were no differences between ADHD+SP group and ADHD without SP group in terms of age, gender, SES, family structure and family history of diagnosed psychiatric disease(p>0.05). Rate of inattentive subtype of ADHD (p=0.05) and comorbid psychiatric disease frequency (p=0.00) was higher in ADHD+SP group compared to ADHD without social phobia group. However, the groups did not differ according to their attachment styles, their parent's attachment styles or parental attitudes (p>0.05).Conclusion: Parental attitudes and attachment styles may not play a role in the development of SP comorbidity in children and adolescents with ADHD. Other biological and environmental factors should be kept in mind when evaluating and treating children with ADHD who have SP. Biological treatments and individualized interventions such as CBT may be preferred as a first line treatment rather than psychotherapies targeting attachment and parenting styles in those children.