The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Parenting Stress in Mothers of Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Background: Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. Parents of these youth experience more parenting stress. Emotional Intelligence (EI) has a very close relationship with mental health.  Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between EI and parenting stress in mothers of ADHD youth. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 136 mothers of ADHD children and adolescents under treatment in the Gil specialized consulting center of Rasht City. Demographic questionnaire, PSI-SF parenting stress questionnaire, and Shearing emotional intelligence questionnaire were used to evaluate the participants. Comorbidities extracted from the patient files, based on the diagnosis of child and adolescent psychiatrists. Data were analyzed using SPSS v. 22 by mean, percentage, standard deviation, and Pearson correlation coefficient.  Results: The relationship between the mothers' mean EI and parenting stress scores were not significant with the age, grade of education, duration of the treatment, and the comorbidities in children (P>0.05). There was a meaningful relationship between the components of EI (P<0.05) and the total score of EI with parenting stress scores (P= 0.001, r= -0.42). Higher emotional intelligence is associated with a lower parenting stress score. Conclusion: Mothers of ADHD youth who had higher EI had less parenting stress.