‘Medicating my son to heal my wife and compromise with school’: paternal accounts of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and medication in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

The diagnosis and medicalisation of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has increased rapidly both in Hong Kong and worldwide. Prevailing research on parental perspectives on ADHD medication has a gender bias that reports mainly mothers’ perspectives. This article reports on an exploratory study investigating the lived experiences and perspectives of Chinese fathers of school-aged children diagnosed with ADHD on ADHD and medication. Investigation of fathers’ perspectives through a socio-cultural lens expands biomedically-based knowledge and understanding of ADHD, providing insights into the development of culturally-sensitive and gender-responsive family intervention for social workers and mental health professionals to assist parents in negotiating parenting issues concerning their children with ADHD.

KEYWORDS:

• Fathers
• Chinese
• ADHD
• medication
• family service

Disclosure statement

The author received no financial support for this research and publication.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hannah Wai-Ming Ho

Hannah Wai- Ming Ho, Ph.D, Lecturer, Department of Social Work, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.