Objective: Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder which is commonly seen in childhood. Depending on the severity of the disease, ADHD effects negatively in terms of harmony in social life events and self esteem. The aim of this study is that to compare adaptation skills of children with ADHD and their mothers? capacity of coping with stressful events or problem solving in the real life. Method: The Kovacs Depression Scale, the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R) were applied to the children while the Problem Solving Inventory was applied to the mothers. The sample was consisted of 49 ADHD children, diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria, aged 6 to 9 years (8.11±1.34) and their mothers. Results: There were no significant differences among ADHD subtypes in terms of WISC-R Verbal, Performance and Total Intelligence sections. In terms of subtypes, there were no significant differences in both children? ability of judgement and their mothers? problem solving skills. Besides that, a high relationship hasn?t been observed between problem-solving skills of the mothers and their children?s ability of judgement. The relationship between the judgement ability of the children and their mother?s perception about feeling insufficient, which was obtained from result of subparameters of the Problem Solving Inventory (confidence and personal) was meaningful. Discussion: Because of disruptive behaviors, difficulty in social relationship and lack of problem solving skills, children with ADHD get negative reactions from their environment and mostly they are punished. Children with ADHD often get criticized, because they actually know what to do but they can not put that into practice. Conclusion: In order to improve the self esteem of children with ADHD, there should be appropriate adult behavioral model, also these children should be included in problem solving and should not be criticized constantly. These will allow children with ADHD to adapt themselves to social life.
Key words: ADHD, problem solving, judging skills
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