SPN had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. The authors thank Tricia Maxwell, and Leo Russo for comments on the study design and overall support for this project. At RTI, Annette Green, Jessica Nelson, Frank Mierzwa, Thomas Walker, and Victoria Albright contributed effort during the design, data collection, and analysis of project data. Caudex (Oxford, UK), funded by Shire International GmbH, is thanked for editorial assistance in formatting, proofreading, and copyediting the manuscript, coordination, and comments collation. The authors wish to thank all the participants for sharing their time and life histories for the advancement of addiction science.
Funding
The design, methods, and analyses for this study were conducted by RTI International, with funding from Shire Development, LLC, which is a pharmaceutical manufacturer of medications used to treat ADHD. The views of this paper are solely those of the primary authors, and not the study sponsor. RTI received the data collection and analysis contract through a competitive bid. None of the senior investigators on this project were employees of Shire Development, LLC, and each Co-PI received funds as part of a sub-grant to their home institution from RTI International (RTI), an independent nonprofit research firm. No direct funds were paid to any of the research team from the sponsor.
Availability of the data and materials
A restricted copy of the data may be made available from the Sponsor (Shire) upon request. The request must be accompanied by an IRB/Ethics Review approval, and a signed Data Use Agreement released by the requestor’s home institution. The requestor also agrees to the terms and conditions under the transference of any agreements in place between RTI International and Shire Development, LLC.
Authors’ contributions
SPN designed the study, wrote major sections of the paper, and provided scientific oversight of the study. He also supervised the analyses. AH, JMR, JR, and SV provided input into the design, developed the survey, facilitated translation of study materials/survey, coordinated data collection and provided ethical study oversight in each country. KK developed the statistical analysis plan, created the sampling weights, and oversaw preliminary analyses. AH, JMR, JR, KK, and SV also wrote portions of the manuscript for publication. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Competing interests
RTI International is a non-profit (U.S. 403b) research institute, with headquarters in the United States and regional offices worldwide, including Great Britain (London, Manchester), Spain (Barcelona), and Sweden (Lund). SPN has received no paid compensation from any pharmaceutical company. He has received funding through RTI International on behalf of Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, Shire Development, LLC, Reckitt Benckiser, Purdue Pharma, and Zogenix. JR has received financial compensation for presentations and/or studies and/or consulting from Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Molteni, Mundipharma, Reckitt-Benckiser, and Sanofi-Aventis, JMR has received funding from Reckitt Benckiser. S. Varughese was an employee of Shire at the time of the study. Shire is a manufacturer of prescription medications used for the treatment of ADHD. KK has received funding through RTI International on behalf of Shire Development, LLC. AH has no competing interests.
Consent for publication
Not Applicable.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Adults (aged 18 or older) were asked to acknowledge via an electronic signature their consent to participate in the study. Parents of minors (ages 12–17) were asked to review the consent form and sign the consent on behalf of their children. Study staff who were native speakers to each country read the consent form to the youth, who were then asked to verbally acknowledge consent. Written consent for minors was documented by asking the youth to sign or place their initials on the form. All methods and procedures were reviewed by the Institutional Review Board at RTI International and a local board in each country. Ethics review was completed in each of the following organizational bodies: Overall Study: RTI International, Research Triangle Park, USA, Denmark and Sweden: Protokoll Vetenskaplig Sekreterare, Lund University, Lund Sweden; UK: NatCen Research Ethics Committee Administrator; Germany: Freiburger Ethik Commision, and Spain: CEIC Hospital Universatario, Peset. All participants were informed that they could withdrawal from the study at any time.
Role of the Sponsor
The study team submitted the study protocol and survey to the study sponsor (Shire). The sponsor provided guidance and approval of the final study protocol and survey. Researchers at RTI and the Co-Investigators had full access to all of the data in the study and exercised full control over the interpretation and reporting of the results. The sponsor was provided an advanced copy for clearance of intellectual property. RTI International is a non-profit (U.S. 403b) research institute, with headquarters in the United States and regional offices worldwide, including Great Britain (London, Manchester), Spain (Barcelona), and Sweden (Lund). SPN has received no paid compensation from any pharmaceutical company. He has received funding through RTI International on behalf of Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, Shire Development, LLC, Reckitt Benckiser, Purdue Pharma, and Zogenix. JR has received financial compensation for presentations and/or studies and/or consulting from Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Molteni, Mundipharma, Reckitt-Benckiser, and Sanofi-Aventis, JMR has received funding from Reckitt Benckiser. S. Varughese was an employee of Shire at the time of the study. Shire is a manufacturer of prescription medications used for the treatment of ADHD. KK has received funding through RTI International on behalf of Shire Development, LLC. AH has no competing interests.