Assessment of Stigma in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a frequently diagnosed disorder in child- and adulthood with a high impact affecting multiple facets of social life. Therefore, patients suffering from ADHD are at high risk to be confronted with stigma, prejudices, and discrimination. The current study is a cross sectional case control study. assessed stigma in a sample of 40 patient diagnosed with ADHD collected from the child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinics at El Abbasia hospital for mental health and the institute of Psychiatry, faculty of medicine, Ain Shams University. 20 are newly diagnosed from 1-month duration and their age ranges from 6 to 11 years. 20 are diagnosed from time more than 1 month and their age 11 to 18 years. Patients were compared to control groups 40 children matched for age and sex. This thesis was designed to assess the stigma in patients diagnosed with ADHD and their family, to study the relation between the degree of the stigma and the severity of symptoms. And to determine which symptoms may lead to more stigma. We hypothesized that most of patients diagnosed with ADHD and their families suffer from stigma. Also there is relation between severity of symptoms and increased stigma in patients diagnosed with ADHD and their families.