A Discrete Choice Conjoint Experiment to Evaluate Parent Preferences for Treatment of Young, Medication Naive Children with ADHD

• Published in: Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology 2011-01, Vol.40 (4), p.546-561
• Main Authors: Waschbusch, Daniel A., Cunningham, Charles E., Pelham, William E., Rimas, Heather L., Greiner, Andrew R., Gnagy, Elizabeth M., Waxmonsky, James, Fabiano, Gregory A., Robb, Jessica A., Burrows-MacLean, Lisa, Scime, Mindy, Hoffman, Martin T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - drug therapy; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - therapy; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Behavior Modification; Behavior Therapy; Central Nervous System Stimulants - therapeutic use; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; Children; Clinical outcomes; Costs; Counseling Techniques; Decision making; Depression (Psychology); Desire; Drug Therapy; Educational Attainment; Educational Status; Family Structure; Female; Gender Differences; Humans; Interpersonal Relationship; Male; Marital Status; Medical treatment; Outcomes of Treatment; Parent Attitudes; Parents; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Patient Preference - psychology; Preferences; Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic Status; Stimulants; Stress Variables; Student Behavior; Surveys and Questionnaires; Therapy; Treatment Outcome; Treatment preferences; Young Children
• ISSN: 1537-4416; 1537-4424
• DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2011.581617

The current study examined treatment preferences of 183 parents of young (average age = 5.8 years, SD = 0.6), medication naive children with ADHD. Preferences were evaluated using a discrete choice experiment in which parents made choices between different combinations of treatment characteristics, outcomes, and costs. Latent class analysis yielded two segments of parents: (a) medication avoidant parents constituted 70.5% of the sample whose treatment decisions were strongly influenced by a desire to avoid medication, and (b) outcome oriented parents constituted 29.5% of the sample whose treatment decisions were most influenced by a desire for positive treatment outcomes. Parents in the outcome oriented segment were more stressed and depressed, had lower socioeconomic status and education, were more likely to be single parents, and had more disruptive and impaired children. Simulations predicted that parents would prefer treatments with behavior therapy over treatments with stimulant medication only.