Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Qualitative Research

Introduction: Although the causes of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are unknown, genetic factors could be assumed to play a role in cases where multiple children are diagnosed with ADHD. In other words, there is a possibility that the diagnosis of ADHD in multiple children may trigger the detection of undiagnosed ADHD in their parents.
Goals and Methods: The purpose of this single case study was to describe the experiences of woman who is both a mother of multiple children with ADHD and the wife of a man with ADHD, using the lifeline method. A semi-structured interview was performed by asking her to draw her lifeline that represented her psychological state (vertical axis: worst = −10 to best = +10) in relation to　disability diagnosis (horizontal axis).
Results: After giving birth to three children, the woman's second child was diagnosed with ADHD, followed by her first and third children. The possibility of a fourth child having ADHD was subsequently indicated. After identifying ADHD in multiple children, her husband was also found to have ADHD. The lifeline revealed that the most difficult time for her was when she first learned about her child’s disability (psychological state at its lowest, −10).
Conclusions: Drawing from both narrative and lifeline, this study represented the experiences of a woman whose entire family, excluding herself, had disabilities. ADHD varies widely and is not diagnosed based on birth order. Additionally, this study suggests that receiving an unexpected disability diagnosis may have a more profound psychological impact than merely receiving multiple disability diagnoses. The lifeline method seems to be an appropriate tool for illustrating specific events and psychological states, especially in complex cases as the one presented in this study.
This study was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS; KAKENHI Grant Number 26380716, 17H02612, 22H03429).