Knowledge and attitudes towards attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among elementary school teachers

Objective: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in child and adolescent psychiatry. ADHD children are at risk for academic and psychological difficulties. Lack of cooperation between schools, parents and therapeutic institutions inhibits a multimodal treatment program. This study surveys teachers' knowledge and attitudes towards attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Method: One hundred and ninety six elementary school teachers in Shiraz, Iran, anonymously completed a self-report questionnaire on ADHD. Results: Knowledge about ADHD was relatively low. 46.9% of respondents agreed that ADHD is due to biological and genetic vulnerabilities and causation. 53.1 %of all the teachers considered ADHD to be the result of parental spoiling. The attitude score towards ADHD children was also low. 64.8% agree that the same disciplinary rules used for all students should also be applied to ADHD children. 77.6% believe that ADHD students experience difficulties in their relations with their classmates. There was a significant correlation between teachers' knowledge of ADHD and their attitude. The main sources of knowledge about ADHD were: Television and radio; friends and relatives; periodical, newspapers and magazines. Conclusion: Knowledge about ADHD was sound to be very low. Practice implications: Health and/or Educational Ministry should promote a special course on ADHD for teachers and education should be part of the curriculum in faculty training. Providing these educational programs on television and radio may be highly effective as they were the most common source of information. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.