The effect of child characteristics on teachers' acceptability of classroom-based behavioral strategies and psychostimulant medication for the treatment of ADHD

Studied the effect of student characteristics on teachers' ratings of treat ment acceptability for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Par ticipants (N = 159) included experienced elementary school teachers who rea d 1 of 6 vignettes describing a child with symptoms representative of ADHD. Vignettes varied by sex and symptom-subtype classification. However, the n umber and specific type of symptoms described in the vignettes were consist ent across all conditions. Next, teachers read a description of a daily rep ort card (DRC), response cost technique, classroom lottery, and medication and rated their levels of agreement to the items of the Behavioral Interven tion Rating Scale (BIRS). Teachers preferred the DRC to all other forms of treatment. However, there was a significant interaction between the type of treatment and sex of the student on the 3 factors (Treatment Acceptability , Treatment Effectiveness, and Timeliness) of the BIRS.