Relationship Between an Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Tendency and Anxiety/Depression: A Longitudinal Study of Early Adolescents

Abstract

The present longitudinal study examines the relation between an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tendency and later anxiety/depression among early adolescents, as mediated by daily school life events, parental attitudes toward child-rearing, and early adolescents' self-esteem. Questionnaires were completed 3 times by the mothers and children in 201 families: Time 1, when the children were in the 5th grade; Time 2, when the children were in the 6th grade; and Time 3, when the children were in the 7th grade (first year of junior high school). The mothers rated their children's ADHD tendency, their own attitude toward their children (e.g., warm parental attitude), and their children's anxiety/depression. The children completed self-report questionnaires regarding daily school life events and their self-esteem. The results of a path analysis indicated that the ADHD tendency at Time 1 correlated positively with the negative daily school life events scores at Time 1, and negatively with both the positive daily school life events scores at Time 1 and the mothers' warmer attitude toward their children at Time 1. The anxiety/depression scores at Time 3 correlated negatively with the positive daily school life events scores at Time 1 and positively with the negative daily school life event scores at Time 1, mediated by the children's lower self-esteem scores at Time 2.