TY - JOUR
T1 - Person-centered language and pediatric ADHD research
T2 - A cross-sectional examination of stigmatizing language within medical literature
AU - Robling, Kristyn
AU - Cosby, Caitlin
AU - Parent, Gunner
AU - Gajjar, Swapnil
AU - Chesher, Tessa
AU - Baxter, Michael
AU - Hartwell, Micah
N1 - Funding Information:
Of the 311 articles within our sample, 291 were original research (93.6%), and 20 articles were case reports or editorials (6.4%). The majority of the articles by type of research were cross-sectional (237/311; 76.2%) and were funded through grants (168/311; 54.0%). Out of the remaining articles, 12 were clinical trials (3.9%), 19 were literature reviews (6.1%), 12 were not research articles (3.9%), and 31 were systematic reviews (10.0%). In terms of funding, 43 received no funding (13.8%), 5 received government funds (1.6%), 16 receive industry funding (5.1%), 13 received university funding (4.2%), and 66 had no funding statement (21.2%). Of the 311 articles, 56 reported pharmacologic interventions (18.0%), 237 reported no treatment (76.2%), and 18 reported nonpharmacologic interventions (5.8%). First-author employment was most commonly found to be public (304/311; 97.8%) with the remaining being government (5/311; 1.6%) or private (2/311; 0.6%). Last-author employment was most commonly private (304/311; 97.8%) with the remaining being government (4/311; 1.3%). These values can be found in .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.
PY - 2023/4/1
Y1 - 2023/4/1
N2 - Context: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children and often goes untreated. A major barrier to treatment is the stigma surrounding the disorder, including from the educational and scientific community. Person-centered language (PCL) is associated with positive health outcomes, and its implementation is recommended by multiple professional groups, but its use has not been quantified for ADHD. Objectives: The goal of this study is to quantify the adherence to PCL among ADHD-related journal publications utilizing a cross-sectional study design. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional examination including a systematic search of PubMed, which encompasses MEDLINE, for ADHD-related articles from January 2014 to March 2021. All journals with at least 20 ADHD-related search returns, human research, and in the English language were included, totaling 5,308 articles from 88 journals. Articles were randomized, and the first 500 were screened for inclusion of prespecified, non-PCL terminology. After exclusion, 311 articles were retained. Results: Of the 311 retained articles, 131 (42.1%) adhered to PCL guidelines. Among articles with non-PCL, stigmatizing language such as "problem(s) with [the/a] child or problem child"and "suffers from"was found most frequently - occurring in 47.6% (148/311) and 5.8% (18/311) of the articles, respectively. We found no significant association between PCL adherence and study characteristics. Conclusions: Our findings revealed that over half of the current ADHD literature did not adhere to PCL guidelines. Adherence to PCL by the scientific and medical community will increase the overall efforts to mitigate stigma and increase support for individuals with ADHD.
AB - Context: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children and often goes untreated. A major barrier to treatment is the stigma surrounding the disorder, including from the educational and scientific community. Person-centered language (PCL) is associated with positive health outcomes, and its implementation is recommended by multiple professional groups, but its use has not been quantified for ADHD. Objectives: The goal of this study is to quantify the adherence to PCL among ADHD-related journal publications utilizing a cross-sectional study design. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional examination including a systematic search of PubMed, which encompasses MEDLINE, for ADHD-related articles from January 2014 to March 2021. All journals with at least 20 ADHD-related search returns, human research, and in the English language were included, totaling 5,308 articles from 88 journals. Articles were randomized, and the first 500 were screened for inclusion of prespecified, non-PCL terminology. After exclusion, 311 articles were retained. Results: Of the 311 retained articles, 131 (42.1%) adhered to PCL guidelines. Among articles with non-PCL, stigmatizing language such as "problem(s) with [the/a] child or problem child"and "suffers from"was found most frequently - occurring in 47.6% (148/311) and 5.8% (18/311) of the articles, respectively. We found no significant association between PCL adherence and study characteristics. Conclusions: Our findings revealed that over half of the current ADHD literature did not adhere to PCL guidelines. Adherence to PCL by the scientific and medical community will increase the overall efforts to mitigate stigma and increase support for individuals with ADHD.
KW - ADHD
KW - PCL
KW - pediatrics
KW - person-centered language
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148667628&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/jom-2022-0126
DO - 10.1515/jom-2022-0126
M3 - Article
C2 - 36762442
AN - SCOPUS:85148667628
SN - 2702-3648
VL - 123
SP - 215
EP - 222
JO - Journal of Osteopathic Medicine
JF - Journal of Osteopathic Medicine
IS - 4
ER -