- Title
- Public attitudes towards attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Creator
- O'Hara, Karly
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2025
- Description
- Coursework Masters - Master of Clinical Psychology (MClinPsych)
- Description
- This study utilised an online survey to investigate the attitudes of 317 members of the Australian public towards the diagnosis and treatment of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The study focussed on how factors such as gender, age, education level, social media use and beliefs about overdiagnosis may influence perceptions. Findings indicated that pharmacological treatment was viewed as more acceptable for adults than children. For children, behavioural intervention was rated as more acceptable than pharmacological treatment. Social media use impacted attitudes towards diagnosis and treatment. Greater time on social media use was associated with more positive attitudes toward pharmacological treatments; however had no significant association with the acceptability of behavioural interventions. Additionally, those who spent more time on social media were less likely to indicate the belief that ADHD is over diagnosed. Education level and beliefs about overdiagnosis were significant predictors of attitudes towards pharmacological treatment, with those endorsing the belief that ADHD is over diagnosed being less likely to rate prescription treatment as acceptable for children and adults. Our research shows that some level of scepticism around pharmacological treatment for ADHD persists, particularly for children. These findings suggest that addressing concerns around overdiagnosis of ADHD may improve treatment acceptance and that social media could play a role in shifting perceptions toward ADHD diagnosis and treatment acceptability.
- Subject
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; ADHD; public attitudes; stigma; social media
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1517789
- Identifier
- uon:57181
- Rights
- Copyright 2025 Karly O'Hara
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 132 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |