Mind & behavior · 1987
Do people judge medication for a child's behavior differently when the diagnosis is rather than ?
Yes. Among 104 laypeople rating two vignettes, respondents judged parents less justified in starting and continuing medication for a boy described as having ADD with hyperactivity than for a boy described as having epilepsy, and expected medication to worsen behavior problems more in the ADD case.
Details
In a vignette-rating study, 104 laypeople were asked to rate two vignettes describing psychotropic medication used to treat behavior problems in school-aged boys. The behavior problems were described as resulting from either attention deficit disorder (ADD) with hyperactivity or a seizure disorder.
Respondents considered the parents of the child with ADD less justified in starting and continuing their child's medication than the parents of the child with epilepsy. They also thought medication would exacerbate the behavior problem more for the child with ADD than for the child with epilepsy.
The authors suggested that clinicians who are aware of and acknowledge these attitudes may be better able to address parents' concerns about drug treatment for their children, possibly increasing the chances of a successful outcome.
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