Providing care for a child with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with parenting stress. Moreover, adults with elevated ADHD symptoms report increased perceived stress. Despite this, it has rarely been examined whether and how child and maternal ADHD symptoms may affect maternal perceived stress and the stress-sensitive hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. This study therefore investigated the possible impact of child and maternal ADHD symptoms on mothers' perceived chronic stress and hair cortisol concentration (HCC), while simultaneously considering the effects of child oppositional defiant/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) and maternal depressive symptomatology. In total, 124 mothers (35.96 ± 5.21 years) of preschool children were included. Maternal perceived stress, ADHD and depressive symptoms were assessed using self-report measures. Child ADHD symptoms were assessed using an interview and questionnaires completed by mothers and teachers. Additionally, mothers provided information about their children’s ODD/CD symptoms. Hair samples were taken from mothers to assess HCC. Child and maternal ADHD, child ODD/CD, and maternal depressive symptoms accounted for 50% of the variance in perceived chronic stress (F(4, 119) = 30.24; p < 0.01), with only maternal ADHD (β = 0.52, p < 0.01) and depressive symptoms (β = 0.49, p < 0.01) being uniquely significant. Maternal ADHD symptoms did not moderate the relationship between child ADHD symptoms and maternal perceived chronic stress (b = − 0.01; SE b = 0.17; t(5, 118) = − 0.05; p = 0.96). Mother’s age became the only significant predictor of maternal HCC (β = 0.29; p < 0.01). Based on these findings, practitioners are advised to be aware of and take into account possible maternal ADHD and depressive symptomatology and perceived chronic stress when treating children diagnosed with ADHD.

为患有注意力缺陷/多动障碍 (ADHD) 的儿童提供护理与养育压力有关。此外，ADHD 症状升高的成年人报告感知压力增加。尽管如此，很少有人研究儿童和母亲的 ADHD 症状是否以及如何影响母亲感知的压力和对压力敏感的下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴。因此，本研究调查了儿童和母亲 ADHD 症状对母亲感知的慢性压力和头发皮质醇浓度 (HCC) 的可能影响，同时考虑了儿童对立违抗/品行障碍 (ODD/CD) 和母亲抑郁症状的影响。共纳入124名学龄前儿童母亲（35.96±5.21岁）。母亲感知到的压力，使用自我报告措施评估多动症和抑郁症状。使用由母亲和教师完成的访谈和问卷评估儿童 ADHD 症状。此外，母亲还提供了有关其孩子 ODD/CD 症状的信息。从母亲身上采集头发样本以评估 HCC。儿童和母亲的 ADHD、儿童 ODD/CD 和母亲的抑郁症状占感知到的慢性压力变化的 50%。F (4, 119) = 30.24; p  < 0.01)，只有母亲的 ADHD ( β  = 0.52, p  < 0.01) 和抑郁症状 ( β  = 0.49, p  < 0.01) 具有独特的显着性。母亲的 ADHD 症状并未缓和儿童 ADHD 症状与母亲感知到的慢性压力之间的关系（b  = - 0.01；SE b  = 0.17；t (5, 118) = - 0.05；p  = 0.96）。母亲的年龄成为母亲 HCC 的唯一显着预测因子（β  = 0.29；p < 0.01)。基于这些发现，建议从业者在治疗被诊断患有 ADHD 的儿童时了解并考虑可能的孕产妇 ADHD 和抑郁症状以及感知到的慢性压力。