Qualität der Eltern-Kind-Beziehung und Verlauf von Symptomen der Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-Hyperaktivitätsstörung (ADHS) im Kindergartenalter

Quality of parent-child relationship and the course of symptoms of attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder in preschoolers Background: A low quality of the parent-child relationship with hostility, low warmth, and high anger expression on the part of the primary caregiver often accompanies a child’s externalizing disorder. It is still unclear whether the course of the externalizing symptoms can be predicted by features of the parent-child relationship. The aim of the study was therefore to analyze the question of whether the progression of symptoms of ADHD between the child’s ages of four and five years can be predicted by the quality of the parent-child relationship. Methods: For this purpose, a sub-sample consisting of n=125 preschool children (50% with high ADHD symptoms) and their parents from the longitudinal study "AUFMERKSAM" at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy in Marburg was examined at two time points. The first examination took place at the child’s age of four (time 1), the second one year later at the child’s age of five (time 2). ADHD symptoms were assessed by a clinical interview with parents and questionnaires filled in by parents and nursery teachers. In order to assess the parent-child relationship, the "Preschool Five Minute Speech Sample" (PFMSS) in the German version of Scholz, Schuh and Döpfner (2014) was conducted with the child's mother at both assessment waves. The intelligence level was estimated by four subtests of an intelligence test. Comorbid oppositional, anxious, and depressive symptoms of the child as well as maternal ADHD and depression symptoms were assessed by questionnaires. Results: The hypothesized prediction of the course of ADHD-symptomdevelopment by the PFMSS was not found. However, there was a significant cross-sectional correlation between elevated EE levels in the PFMSS (scale critical comments) and high ADHD and as well as SSV symptoms of the child. In addition, the association between maternal depression and the critical comments of the PFMSS approached statistical significance. Conclusions: In the present study, the assumption that a low quality of the parent-child relationship indicated by high EE is associated with high ADHD symptoms in preschool children was confirmed. However, the expected prediction of the course of ADHD-symptomdevelopment from parental EE was not found.