To better understand the help seeking process that occurs within Latino families when a child is exhibiting behaviors consistent with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), qualitative and quantitative data from 73 Latino parents were examined. Findings suggest that most Latino parents in the current sample recognized ADHD symptoms as concerning and in need of professional help and reported being motivated to seek help. Unfortunately, they also appeared to lack knowledge about the etiology of and effective treatment for ADHD, and many identified barriers to seeking help. Future research must involve community collaborations aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge of ADHD and decreasing barriers to seeking help in targeted Latino communities.

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.

Abstract:The lack of available Spanish versions of assessment measures contributes to insufficient research and underutilization of mental health services for Latino children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine the psychometric and cultural properties of several Spanish versions of parental/family functioning measures commonly used in comprehensive ADHD assessments (i.e., the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, and Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale). Participants included 68 Spanish-speaking, Latino parents in Southeast Wisconsin. In general, the Spanish translations of the measures demonstrated good reliability and validity. Furthermore, the psychometrically-sound measures were significantly related to acculturation as predicted, suggesting that the scales are not only psychometrically valid, but also culturally valid for use with Spanish-speaking, Latino families.

No abstract

The scale can provide an overall impairment score, as well as subscale scores in the theoretically derived domains of academic, peer, and familial impairment. (J. of Att. Dis. 2016; 20(6) 487-500).

The goals of the current study were to develop and employ culturally-modified recruitment strategies utilizing flexibility and creativity to combat practical and cultural barriers to Latino participation in clinical child research, as well as to quantitatively examine individual and cultural factors related to the different recruitment strategies. In total, 45 Latino parents were successfully recruited and primarily included married mothers of Mexican origin with varied socioeconomic backgrounds. To address the first study goal, an initial culturally-modified recruitment strategy (i.e., postcard strategy, n = 23) was developed to combat both practical and cultural barriers; an augmented strategy (i.e., face-to-face strategy, n = 22) was later employed to further combat potential barriers. Unfortunately, neither strategy resulted in the desired sample size of 150 parents. To examine the second study goal, an exploratory, quantitative examination of individual and cultural factors related to the different strategies was conducted. In general, results suggested that there were differences in the demographics of the parents who responded to the different recruitment strategies, such that those recruited through the face-to-face strategy were more educated, more acculturated, and spoke more English than those recruited through the postcard strategy. Much needed future directions are discussed.

Findings suggest that behavioral parent training resulted in statistically significant improvements in some domains of parenting behavior for both mothers and fathers and in reductions in most domains of parenting stress for mothers. Importantly, clinically meaningful change also was noted for these parental functioning areas, as well as for other domains of parental functioning that did not result in statistically significant findings. Clinical implications are discussed.

Though data support effective treatments for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), little research examining these interventions with ethnic minority families exists. Thus, the current case study focuses on a Spanish-speaking, Latino family assessed and treated in a university-based ADHD clinic implementing evidence-based treatment. In addition to discussing the course of treatment, this case study highlights some of the challenges faced when treating ethnic minority families and identifies several lines of research needed to fully explore ethnicity and treatment outcomes in child psychotherapy.