OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have found biological conceptualizations of psychopathology to be associated with stigmatizing attitudes and prognostic pessimism. This research investigated how biological and psychosocial explanations for a child's ADHD symptoms differ in affecting laypeople's stigmatizing attitudes and prognostic beliefs. METHOD: Three experiments were conducted online with U.S. adults, using vignettes that described a child with ADHD and attributed his symptoms to either biological or psychosocial causes. Dependent measures gauged social distance and expectations about the child's prognosis. RESULTS: Across all three studies, the biological explanation yielded more doubt about treatability but less social distance-a result that diverges from previous research with other disorders. Differences in the amount of blame ascribed to the child mediated the social distance effect. CONCLUSION: The effects of biological explanations on laypeople's views of ADHD seem to be a "double-edged sword," reducing social rejection but exacerbating perceptions of the disorder as relatively untreatable.
OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have found biological conceptualizations of psychopathology to be associated with stigmatizing attitudes and prognostic pessimism. This research investigated how biological and psychosocial explanations for a child's ADHD symptoms differ in affecting laypeople's stigmatizing attitudes and prognostic beliefs. METHOD: Three experiments were conducted online with U.S. adults, using vignettes that described a child with ADHD and attributed his symptoms to either biological or psychosocial causes. Dependent measures gauged social distance and expectations about the child's prognosis. RESULTS: Across all three studies, the biological explanation yielded more doubt about treatability but less social distance-a result that diverges from previous research with other disorders. Differences in the amount of blame ascribed to the child mediated the social distance effect. CONCLUSION: The effects of biological explanations on laypeople's views of ADHD seem to be a "double-edged sword," reducing social rejection but exacerbating perceptions of the disorder as relatively untreatable.
Authors: Marian Reiff; Ellen Giarelli; Barbara A Bernhardt; Ebony Easley; Nancy B Spinner; Pamela L Sankar; Surabhi Mulchandani Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2015-10
Authors: Marian Reiff; Eva Bugos; Ellen Giarelli; Barbara A Bernhardt; Nancy B Spinner; Pamela L Sankar; Surabhi Mulchandani Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2017-05