INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTISM SYMPTOMS IN CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER AND BROAD AUTISM PHENOTYPE AND ALEXITHYMIC CHARACTERISTICS IN THEIR PARENTS

Temeltürk R. D., ÖZER E.

IOJET, cilt.10, sa.4, ss.2699-2715, 2023 (Hakemli Dergi) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 10 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Dergi Adı: IOJET
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: EBSCO Education Source, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Directory of Open Access Journals, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.2699-2715
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The study aims to examine autism-like symptoms in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as well as to evaluate the broad autism phenotype (BAP) characteristics and alexithymia levels of their parents and to compare them with the control group and their parents. Children’s autistic traits were evaluated by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). BAP characteristics and alexithymia levels of parents were measured by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), respectively. SRS scores of children and AQ and TAS-20 scores of mothers were significantly higher in the ADHD group than in the control group. In addition, significant correlations were determined between subscales and total scores of SRS, AQ, and TAS-20. The research findings underline that autistic traits are increased in children with ADHD, highlighting a notable overlap between ADHD and ASD. Moreover, the study elucidates BAP characteristics in mothers of children with ADHD, implying a potential shared genetic susceptibility or familial vulnerability. The emergence of higher alexithymic levels in parents of ADHD-affected children raises interesting questions regarding emotional processing and regulation in familial contexts. Appropriate family interventions targeting the improvement of social, communication skills, and emotional awareness could prove beneficial for treating ADHD.