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Willingness to Use ADHD Self-Management: Mixed Methods Study of Perceptions by Adolescents and Parents

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Abstract

Little is known about perceptions surrounding self-management for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although such interventions appear commonly used and are considered essential components of the chronic care model. Our research is part of a mixed methods study that followed students at high and low risk for ADHD over 11 years. During the final study years, area-representative samples of 148 adolescents (54.8 % participation; 97 ADHD high-risk group; 51 low-risk peers) and 161 parents (59.4 % participation; 108 parents of high-risk adolescent; 53 parents of low-risk peer) completed a cross-sectional survey on community-identified self-management interventions for ADHD (activity outlets, sleep regulation, dietary restriction, homework help, family rules, and prayer). Respondents also answered open-ended questions addressing undesirable self-management effects, which were analyzed using grounded theory methods. High-risk adolescents expressed significantly lower willingness towards all self-management interventions than did adult respondents, except for increased activity outlets. They also reported lower receptivity towards sleep regulation and dietary restriction than did their low-risk peer group. No gender or race differences in self-management willingness were found, except for higher receptivity to prayer in African American respondents. Cost, perceived ineffectiveness, disruptions to routines, causation of interpersonal conflicts, and reduced future self-reliance were seen as potential undesirable effects. Findings suggest that activity-based ADHD interventions appear particularly acceptable across all demographic and risk groups, unlike sleep regulation and dietary approaches. Further research on self-care effectiveness is needed to incorporate adolescents’ viewpoints about ADHD self-management, as interventions may be acceptable to adults, but resisted by adolescents.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the parents, adolescents, teachers and health professionals whose participation made the study possible. This study was supported by Grant RO1MH57399 from the National Institute of Mental Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Box 100256, Gainesville, FL, 32610-0256, USA

    Regina Bussing & Dana Mason

  2. Mary Lou Fulton College, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Mirka Koro-Ljungberg

  3. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai St. Lukes, New York, NY, USA

    Tina Gurnani

  4. Department of Health Care Environments and Systems, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Cynthia Wilson Garvan

  5. Department of Psychology, University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, Long Beach, MS, USA

    Kenji Noguchi

  6. Department of Psychology, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Business Administration, College of Business, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA

    Dolores Albarracin

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  1. Regina Bussing
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  2. Mirka Koro-Ljungberg
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  3. Tina Gurnani
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  4. Cynthia Wilson Garvan
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  5. Dana Mason
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  6. Kenji Noguchi
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  7. Dolores Albarracin
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Correspondence to Regina Bussing.

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Bussing, R., Koro-Ljungberg, M., Gurnani, T. et al. Willingness to Use ADHD Self-Management: Mixed Methods Study of Perceptions by Adolescents and Parents. J Child Fam Stud 25, 562–573 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0241-4

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