title: Thinking About Electroconvulsive Therapy: The Opinions of Parents of Adolescents with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders.
abstract: To assess the experience with, knowledge of, and attitudes toward electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) among parents of adolescents with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) who have received ECT.
  
  
  
  A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the experience with, knowledge of, and attitudes toward ECT in a sample of parents of adolescents diagnosed with SSD. Parents of adolescents treated with ECT before the age of 18 years (ECT group; n = 19) were compared with a randomly selected group of parents of adolescents treated only with antipsychotics (No ECT group; n = 20).
  
  
  
  Most parents in the ECT group claimed that they had received adequate information about the ECT procedure (94.7%), most of them thought it had been helpful for their children (73.7%) and none thought that it had made things worse. The large majority of parents in the ECT group (80%) thought that the illness had been worse than ECT or medication, and none thought that ECT was the worst. Parents in the ECT group generally had better knowledge of what ECT is and its indications. All the parents in the ECT group (100%) and almost all of those in the No ECT group (94.7%) would agree to the treatment for their children if recommended in the future by a doctor, there being no differences between the groups in this respect (p = 0.447). Most parents in the ECT group (88.9%) thought it was a legitimate treatment when used appropriately, an opinion that was held by a much smaller proportion of parents in the No ECT group (52.6%), although the remaining parents in that group were unsure about it (47.4%).
  
  
  
  Most parents of adolescents with SSD treated with ECT had positive views about the treatment. Parents of adolescents treated only with antipsychotics tended either to have positive views about ECT or claimed to have no knowledge about it, with negative views being uncommon.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Institut Clinic de Neurociències, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .|2 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental , CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain .
authors.forename: Itziar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Flamarique
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Institut Clinic de Neurociències, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .|2 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental , CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain .|3 Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica August Pi i Sunyer , IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain .
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baeza
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Institut Clinic de Neurociències, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .|2 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental , CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain .
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de la Serna
authors.affiliation: 2 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental , CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain .|4 Barcelona Clinic Schizophrenia Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Institut Clínic de Neurociències, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pons
authors.affiliation: 2 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental , CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain .|3 Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica August Pi i Sunyer , IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain .|4 Barcelona Clinic Schizophrenia Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Institut Clínic de Neurociències, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .|5 Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, University of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernardo
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Institut Clinic de Neurociències, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .|2 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental , CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain .|3 Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica August Pi i Sunyer , IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain .|5 Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, University of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .
authors.forename: Josefina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castro-Fornieles
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents
keywords: adolescents; electroconvulsive therapy; opinion; psychosis; schizophrenia