J Korean Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.  2011 Sep;22(3):149-155.

MMPI Characteristics of Parents of Children with ADHD

• Kim MK
• Hong JW
• Lim MH
• Do JA
• Oh EY
• Lee KK
• Paik KC

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The current study investigated the personality characteristics of parents of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), which is commonly used in clinical medicine.
METHODS
Participants were 117 parents of children with ADHD (96 boys and 21 girls) and 77 parents of comparison children (50 boys and 27 girls), who completed the Korean version of the MMPI.
RESULTS
The MMPI scores of the fathers of ADHD children were significantly higher on the Psychopathic Deviate (Pd), Masculinity-Femininity (Mf), Paranoia (Pa), and Psychasthenia (Pt) scales than the comparison group's were. In addition, the mothers of ADHD children had higher MMPI scores on the traits of Hypochondriasis (Hs), Psychopathic Deviate (Pd), and Schizophrenia (Sc) than the comparisong roup had, but were not significantly higher.
CONCLUSION
The fathers of ADHD children might be antisocial, irresolute, passive, paranoid, and anxious. In addition, mothers of ADHD children might have hypochondriacal, antisocial, and/or psychological confusional traits, but these were not be significantly high. These results suggest that the psychopathology of parents of ADHD children might correlate with their children's ADHD.

Keyword

Attention-deficit Hyperactive Disorder; Parental MMPI; Parental Psychopathology

MeSH Terms

Child
Fathers
Humans
Hypochondriasis
MMPI
Mothers
Paranoid Disorders
Parents
Psychopathology
Schizophrenia
Weights and Measures