The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

190 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 3 the participants were all parents from one school. Waschbusch et al., however, recruited participants with flyers that advertised the study as a way to eliminate or limit the use of the children needing medication in the future (548). The survey conducted by Johnston et al. was similar to the survey by Stroh et al. because the survey aimed to gather information about parent attitudes. Unlike Waschbusch et al., this survey did not promise to limit the need of medication in the future. The survey by Johnston et al. also differed from the other two because the participants were parents of boys ages 5 to 13, rather than members of both sex (670). This survey acquired its participants by advertising in newspapers and community centers, similar to Waschbusch et al. Rather than advertising on the premise of limiting medication use, however, the survey by Johnston et al. reimbursed the parents monetarily (Johnston et al. 670). All three studies aimed to acquire information about parent attitudes and beliefs, but varied in the ways they advertised for and conducted their surveys. All three studies readily acknowledge that parents play a large role in ADHD treatment. Not only do they make the final decision for their child, but they also are the ones who keep their children accountable to take the medication or participate in the behavior treatment. The studies, however, attribute the origin of parent beliefs about medication and treatments to varying sources. Both Waschbusch et al. and Johnston et al. found that a treatment needs to be congruent with the parents’ beliefs in order to be effective. Waschbusch et al. found that parents whose children had not yet taken medication were focused on utilizing other methods to treat their children in order to avoid giving them medicine (556- 557). Thereby, it would not be effective to prescribe medication to these children because the parents may not fill the prescription or enforce consistent use of the medication. Attitudes toward treatment could also be connected to certain demographics. For example, outcome oriented parents-those willing to use whichever treatment is the most effective, including medicine- were more likely to be depressed single mothers with high stress levels and low education (Waschbusch 557). These parents are typically more open to different types of treatments and will implement whatever works best. Similarly, Johnston et al. found that a treatment can only be effective if the doctor works with the family “in establishing