Introduction
The number of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has noticeably increased over the past decade; it is especially high in developed countries since they are more opportunities to diagnose it at a young age. However, understanding how families perceive this disorder may help specialists to realize how both parents and children cope with it. Moreover, realizing the core mechanisms behind it can assist in creating a proper treatment that is capable of improving the emotional well-being of families. For this reason, research under the name of “Perceptions of ADHD Among Diagnosed Children and Their Parents: A Systematic Review Using the Common‑Sense Model of Illness Representations” was conducted by Wong et al.
Main body
While it is not necessary for an effective qualitative study to be done by a team, there is a high chance that a group of researchers is able to analyze data in a more efficient way. Various researchers can examine and interpret data differently, which may lead to questioning the validity of data. Nevertheless, in cases where researchers reach a consensus, the outcomes of the study tend to seem more reliable to the consumers (Galvan & Galvan, 2017). This particular research was conducted by a team of scholars, which suggests that a reader can be confident in the results.
As for other aspects of the study, researchers note that they gathered and analyzed data independently. As they note, in order to gather reliable data, “three trained research assistants screened a combination made out of 10% of the randomly selected titles and abstracts of the identified studies and 2.0% of the randomly selected titles and abstracts of the unselected studies” (Wong et al., 2018, p. 59). Moreover, the other two trained assistants looked through 20% of the articles. After collecting necessary information they discussed any discrepancies that occurred during the analysis until a consensus was reached.
Moreover, Galvan and Galvan (2017) note that consultation with outside experts makes the study more effective. Nevertheless, while the researchers did not consult any other experts, they used peer-reviewed scholarly journals in English. According to the authors, “search terms used in the title and abstract fields included: “view*” or “peace” or “knowledge” or “belief” or “attribute” or “understand,” or “expect,” or “interpret,” or “once,” in all possible combinations with “parent” or “child” or “adolescent” (Wong et al., 2018, p. 59). Since scholars conducted a thorough literature search, they did not set up any interviews and, therefore, did not use a purposive sample. Moreover, for this reason, no participants of the research were consulted. Nevertheless, it would be easy to define the demographic of the participants of studies that were analyzed by the researchers. After all, the study touches upon problems of perception of ADHD among children and also their parents, which creates a specific group of people. That is why all the participants in these studies were adolescents under the age of 18 who were diagnosed with ADHD and also their families.
There is no doubt that the qualitative analysis is described sufficiently since the researchers used a variety of methods. For example, “the quality of qualitative studies represented in the review was assessed using 10 items from the checklist of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme” (Wong et al., 2018, p. 61). In addition, the scholars also used the Cochrane Public Health Group Data Extraction and Assessment Template during the process of extracting and collecting data (Wong et al., 2018). All these factors suggest that the researchers conducted a qualitative analysis since they described in detail what approaches and steps they had used while gathering and analyzing information.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it would appear that even though researchers conducted qualitative analysis, they also managed to provide qualitative data. This includes statistics that about 70% of children with ADHD express their discontent about the lack of information about this disorder, and 8% of families considered behavioral therapy ineffective (Wong et al., 2018). Therefore, since all guidelines of proper qualitative research are addressed in this study, it can be safely assumed that it was conducted thoroughly and efficiently.
References
Galvan, J. L., & Galvan, M. C. (2017). Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences. Taylor & Francis.
Wong, I. Y., Hawes, D. J., Clarke, S., Kohn, M. R., & Dar-Nimrod, I. (2018). Perceptions of ADHD among diagnosed children and their parents: A systematic review using the common-sense model of illness representations. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 21(1), 57-93.