Hyperactive Children's Knowledge and Attitudes Concerning Drug Treatment

Twenty-six hyperactive males, with a mean age of 11 years, 7 months who were receiving stimulant medication were individually interviewed to assess their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of the consequences of their drug treatment. Subjects' audiotaped responses to the interview questions were content-analyzed and categorized according to the percent of subjects who gave the same (or similar) responses to each question. The responses showed that the subjects were generally knowledgeable about the purpose of their medication, presented generally mixed attitudes about having to take medication, but tended to associate not taking the medication with certain negative consequences. These findings may have some clinical relevance for the outcome of drug treatment of hyperactive children.