Acculturation, Cultural Values, and Latino Parental Beliefs About the Etiology of ADHD

Abstract

ACCULTURATION, CULTURAL VALUES, AND LATINO PARENTAL BELIEFSABOUT THE ETIOLOGY OF ADHD Kathryn E. LawtonMarquette University, 2011Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent mental health disorders of childhood, but despite the availability of several evidencebased interventions, Latino children are more likely than non-minority children to have an unmet need for services related to ADHD. Because parental beliefs about the etiology of ADHD likely influence which services are sought, more research is needed to examine this aspect of help-seeking behavior in order to address the unmet need among Latino families. Specifically, research needs to focus on cultural factors that likely influence parental beliefs about the etiology of child behavior problems. Thus, the goal of the current study was to investigate the role of acculturation and cultural values of familismo, respeto, spirituality, and traditional gender roles in explaining parental etiological beliefs about ADHD in Latino parents. Participants in this study included 74 Latino parents. After watching a video portraying a Latino child exhibiting core symptoms and common functional problems associated with ADHD, parents completed a semi-structured interview that assessed etiological beliefs about the behavior of the child in the video, as well as a demographic questionnaire and measures of acculturation and cultural values. Neither Anglo orientation nor Latino orientation was significantly correlated with biopsychosocial or sociological/spiritual etiological beliefs. Additionally, none of the cultural values were significantly correlated with biopsychosocial etiological beliefs. The cultural values familismo and traditional gender roles were significantly positively correlated with sociological/spiritual beliefs. Exploratory analyses also were conducted to further examine sociological/spiritual beliefs. After controlling for SES, familismo and traditional gender roles accounted for 30.5% of the total variance in sociological/spiritual beliefs about ADHD. Finally, post hoc analyses were conducted to examine individual categories of etiological beliefs. The current study adds to our knowledge about how Latino parents understand child behavior and has important implications for both research and mental health services with Latino parents. The results support the inclusion of etiological beliefs and cultural factors in research examining help-seeking and access to mental health services among Latino families and suggest that the incorporation of alternative etiological beliefs about child behavior may be an important factor in culturally-appropriate mental health services.

Parent and Family Processes Related to ADHD Management in Ethnically Diverse Youth

“…From this review, European American families tended to link childhood problems, like ADHD, to biomedical causes whereas African American families tended to view childhood behavioral and emotional difficulties as problems originating in, and handled by, the family (Carpenter-Song, 2009). Similarly, Latino families more often associated ADHD etiology with imbalances in family life or societal influences (Lawton et al, 2014). Greater beliefs in the sugar etiology of ADHD and feelings of racial inequality, discriminatory practices, and mistrust of doctors were also prevalent in African American experiences (Bussing et al, 2012; Olaniyan et al, 2007).…”

“…In the literature, cultural values of familism and traditional gender roles were positively correlated with sociological and spiritual beliefs related to the cause of ADHD for Mexican and Puerto Rican American families (Lawton et al, 2014). Familism is a strong attachment and reliance on the nuclear and extended family characterized by interdependence, respect toward authority figures, and personal sacrifice for the good of the family (Lawton et al, 2014).…”

“…Familism is a strong attachment and reliance on the nuclear and extended family characterized by interdependence, respect toward authority figures, and personal sacrifice for the good of the family (Lawton et al, 2014). Because some Latinos in these studies view health and illness as part of a complex network of family interrelationships, ADHD is not considered something inherent to the child, but rather a result of problems or conflicts within the family (Lawton et al, 2014). …”

“…The research shows varying perspectives on the understanding, etiology, and explanatory belief-models for the symptoms of ADHD. While some families have acquired the most up-to-date medical knowledge on the origins and symptoms of ADHD (Carpenter-Song, 2009), other families rely on community awareness of childhood problems or respect cultural, social, and spiritual health belief models to understand the problems or difficulties associated with ADHD (Bussing et al, 2012; Lawton et al, 2014). Parental attitudes toward ADHD symptoms, diagnostic labels, medical and school providers, and acceptable treatment types may affect care-seeking behaviors (DosReis et al, 2006; DosReis et al, 2007; Mychailyszyn et al, 2008; Pham et al, 2010).…”

Standardised assessment of functioning in ADHD: consensus on the ICF Core Sets for ADHD

“…Another common representation is the environmental factor chapter e4 Attitudes that was covered in each respective age-specific set. This may reflect the notion that ADHD is still not fully accepted as a legitimate medical condition by affected families and a large portion of society [57][58][59]. A key difference that was found between the different age-specific brief sets was the lack of categories from the e2 Natural environment and human-made changes to environment chapter (i.e., sound, light) in the older adolescent and adult version.…”