Medications and Choices: The Perspective of Families and Youth - What Parents Tell Us about Psychiatric Medications

The Parent/Professional Advocacy League (PAL) and the Institute for Community Health (ICH) published a June 4, 2008 online report summarizing results of Massachusetts parent and youth surveys and focus groups on the perspective of families with regards to psychotropic medication choices.  The parents surveyed had a child age 19 or under who was currently taking psychotropic medication(s).  The children of those parents surveyed were invited to participate in related focus groups and online youth surveys.

Click here to link to a copy of this report.

Analysis was conducted on 274 parent surveys and 66 youth surveys.

Many in the group surveyed involved patients who could be described as having moderate to severe mental health issues.  The majority of those surveyed consisted of patients with multiple diagnoses taking multiple medications.

Although the group surveyed was generally more severe than the type of patients whose behavioral health medications are typically monitored in the primary care setting, there were several points in the report that may be of interest to the primary care physician.

These are:

1. 90% of parents reported that their child's medications helped him/her deal more effectively with his/her problems.
2. 80% of youth surveyed expressed satisfaction with their medications.
3. 86% of children taking medications were also receiving psychotherapy.
4. 50% of families tried alternative and/or complementary treatments before beginning psychotropic medications. 44% of those who tried alternative treatments rated those as somewhat effective. (Alternative treatments included behavior plans, restricted diets, yoga, and herbal remedies.)
5. Only 4.5% of families said that they initially suggested beginning medications.
6. 26.4% of children were diagnosed with a behavioral health diagnosis before the age of 4.
7. Most parents had to try differenct medication(s) or mix of medications before they found the right medication(s) or mix of medications. Many parents and youth expressed concern about side effects of medications.
8. 91% of families reported that their child's prescriber explained why their child was being prescribed the medication, but only 76% of parents agreed that the prescriber clearly explained side effects of the medication. 24% disagreed or strongly disagreed that the prescriber had been clear about side effects.
9. Parents noted that it was difficult to find information on medications and their side effects.
10. Many parents expressed that they found themselves in the role of supplying information to the school about their child's medication.
11. While most parents found medications helpful, they expressed concern that they had to grapple with society's prevailing and rather stigmatizing opinion regarding children and psychotropic medications.