Table 1.
Caregiver/family and child/adolescent factors associated with nonadherence to ADHD medication and strategies to improve adherence
| Caregiver/family | Beliefs that symptoms are not due to a neurobiologic disorder | Patient/family education |
| Stigmatization of medication | Patient/family education | |
| Lack of caregiver knowledge about ADHD and treatment | Patient/family education | |
| Increased caregiver-child conflict | Behavior strategies (eg, BPT, PCIT, Incredible Years, COPE, Triple P-Positive Parenting Program) | |
| Caregiver mental health diagnoses | Behavior strategies (eg, CBT, Coping with Depression Course for caregivers with depression) | |
| Lower socioeconomic status | Health disparity-reducing interventions | |
| Child/adolescent | Older age at diagnosis Non-White, Hispanic Female gender Lower baseline severity of ADHD symptoms |
|
| Child unwilling to take medications | Behavior strategies (eg, BPT, Incredible Years), patient/family education | |
| Comorbid disorders (oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder) | Behavior strategies (eg, BPT, Incredible Years for oppositional defiant disorder, MST for conduct disorder) |
ADHD: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; BPT: behavioral parent training; CBT: cognitive-behavioral therapy; COPE: Community Parent Education Program; MST: multisystemic therapy; PCIT: Parent-Child Interaction Therapy