title: Informed consent and stimulant medication: adolescents' and parents' ability to understand information about benefits and risks of stimulant medication for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study of informed consent examines understanding of information needed to consent to stimulant treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The understanding of adolescents with ADHD, their parents, control adolescents, and their parents is compared.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-eight ADHD and 64 control adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16 and their parents were studied. Baseline understanding of information was determined. Subjects received information relevant to informed consent for stimulation medication and afterward were evaluated on their recall understanding and their final understanding.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Knowledge was increased after the information session for all subjects. There was no significant difference between unadjusted baseline, recall, and final knowledge of control adolescents and parents. Although unadjusted baseline, recall, and final knowledge of ADHD adolescents is significantly less than that of parents, 78% of ADHD adolescents had final understanding scores within 2 standard deviations of parents' scores. After controlling for baseline understanding and cognitive variables, there was no significant difference between understanding of ADHD adolescents and ADHD parents, whereas control adolescents understanding scores were higher than that of their parents. Understanding was highly associated with mathematics achievement in all groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of adolescents with ADHD, both with and without a history of stimulant medication treatment, have understanding that is similar to their parents and their inclusion in the informed consent process should be encouraged. Extra care should be afforded to those adolescents with low numeracy or literacy to ensure their understanding.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Child, Youth and Family Program, Toronto, Canada. debbie_schachter@camh.net
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schachter
authors.forename: Sukirtha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tharmalingam
authors.forename: Irwin
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kleinman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D032882:Comprehension; D032962:Consent Forms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000523:psychology*; D057828:Informed Consent By Minors / Q000523:psychology; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants