Desarrollo de la autonomía personal en niños con Trastorno por Déficit de Atención e Hiperactividad

Zusammenfassung

Introduction: The Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neuropsychiatric pathology that causes an alteration in the child’s everyday actions and their inmediate environment, and whose symptomatology has negative repercussions on daily occupational performance. Here a scientific literature review is done about the personal autonomy and ocupational perception of children with ADHD, as well as the quality of life of the progenitors. Nevertheless, the absence of interventions and investigations based on Occupational Therapy principles justifies the need to study this disorder and its relation to these variables. Objectives: In this investigation it has been developed a cognitive-conductual treatment from Occupational Therapy in order to treat the occupational performance in selfcare and instrumental activities of daily living, improve the autonomy degree of children wih ADHD and also observe the results in parents’ quality of life. Materials and methods: A six-week quasi-experimental longitudinal study was conducted with a sample of 36 children with ADHD and with their parents. A cognitive-conductual treatment was designed with an occupational foundation. The assessment tools applied were the Questionnaire for evaluating activity limitations and participation restrictions in children with ADHD (CLARP), the Spanish Child Occupational Self-Assessment (COSA) and the Short-Form 36-Item Questionnaire to Measure Health-Related Quality of Life (SF-36). Results: There was a significant improvement in personal autonomy and functional independence after the intervention (p < 0,001) and in the 6-month follow-up (p = 0,001). The analysis of the results also showed the benefits of the programme regarding the occupational performance’s perception. An increase in the progenitor’s quality of life was also observed at the end of the intervention (p < 0,001), which was maintained in the subsequent follow-up (p = 0,012). Conclusions: The cognitive-conductual treatment developed from Occupational Therapy improved significantly the autonomy degree of children with ADHD and the quality of life of their parents. The positive effects of the programme that was carried out remain in the long term.