Cultural differences in the experience of the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD in a son: Interviews with three Mexican and three Caucasian American mothers.

摘要

As the world becomes increasingly ethnically diverse, the need for empirically sound multicultural research has come to the forefront. Based on a review of the literature, while research on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is abundant and some research on cultural issues regarding ADHD has been produced, there is relatively little research on the Mexican culture and ADHD. The current study explored the experiences of Mexican and Caucasian American mothers of boys with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in order to compare and contrast differences between the two cultural groups. Three Mexican immigrant and three Caucasian American mothers were interviewed regarding their experiences of the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD in their sons. The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured format with open-ended questions allowing pariticipants to offer more information than might have been anticipated by the researcher. The interview addressed issues that typically arise during the identification and assessment of a behavioral problem, diagnosis of ADHD, and treatment of ADHD.;Participants were recruited from a mental health agency in Los Angeles, California located in a service area with a high Mexican immigrant population. All participants were required to have sons who had been diagnosed with ADHD. Mexican participants were required to meet criteria ensuring that they were culturally Mexican and Caucasian American participants were required to meet criteria ensuring that they were culturally American.;Several differences were expected to be found between the two groups based upon research available regarding Latinos and mental health including differences in the acceptance of a diagnosis of ADHD, the use of treatment, the degree to which parents are involved with the assessment process, the amount of stress experienced, and the awareness and utilization of resources. Surprisingly, expected differences were not seen among the six women in this study. Explanations for why the differences were not seen are explored including limitations of the research. Other subtle differences were seen that had been unplanned for and those are explored. The recruitment of Mexican participants was a significant difficulty throughout this study. This issue is explored, including possible explanations and suggestions for future researchers. Suggested directions for future research include research with a larger group of Mexican mothers, research in other locations, research of other Latino subcultures, research of mothers of girls with ADHD, and research including fathers.