Perceived Family Climate and Self-Esteem in Adolescents With ADHD: A Study With a Control Group.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, our objective is to assess the perception of family environments by adolescents with ADHD based on perceived expressed emotion (EE) and the self-esteem of the adolescents.

METHOD: Uludag University Medical Faculty Hospital completed this study with 41 adolescents with ADHD and 35 control group participants who were matched based on age and gender.

RESULTS: The total scores of perceived EE, described as a lack of emotional support, irritability, and intrusiveness, were significantly higher in ADHD group than in the control group. The group with ADHD also showed significantly lower self-esteem. There was a negative correlation between self-esteem scores and total perceived EE scores in the ADHD group and the control group.

CONCLUSION: This study showed that the adolescents with ADHD perceive less emotional support and higher levels of intrusiveness, with patients also describing their families as more irritating. Other results in this study show that adolescents with less emotional support possess lower self-esteem, as do adolescents with more irritable parents.