Parents' acceptability of alternative treatments for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Ninety-six parents evaluated alternative treatments for a child diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to both DSM-III-R and DSM-IV criteria. All subjects evaluated three psychosocial treatments for ADHD children (i.e., self-management therapy, parent training, parent-child interaction training) in addition to a no-treatment option. Half of the subjects also evaluated the acceptability of psychosocial interventions combined with psychostimulant medication. Results indicated that psychosocial treatments combined with psy chostimulant medication were rated significantly lower in acceptability than psychosocial treat ments alone. Child self-management therapy, parent training, and parent-child interaction train ing were generally rated as equivalent interventions although parent-child interaction training revealed the highest acceptability scores. All therapies were preferred to the no-treatment option.