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Table 2 Example interview protocol with counselors

From: Does the education system serve as a persuasion agent for recommending ADHD diagnosis and medication uptake? A qualitative case study to identify and characterize the persuasion strategies of Israeli teachers and school counselors

Subject

Questions

Characterization and classification of students

• Please provide me with an overall picture of the kind of children who go to your school.

• How would you characterize the different types of children?

• What is the common denominator of all of the children with ADHD?

Difficulties and barriers of the teacher

• What difficulties does a teacher have in dealing with a child with ADHD?

Treatment of barriers (opinions)

• How do you think a child with ADHD should be treated?

• Do you think teachers have the time and tools to cope?

• Have you ever sent a child for an ADHD diagnosis?

Inviting parents for a conversation

• Please characterize different profiles of parents.

• When do you invite parents to a talk? Who participates in the conversation with them? Is it you and the referring teacher?

• Please describe from the moment when the teacher goes to the school counselor because of the child’s behavior and up to your decision to invite the parents (what are your considerations)?

• How do you make the decision to refer a child that you suspect has ADHD to diagnosis? For instance, based on your experience, behavior that indicates a disorder, complaints from subject teachers.

• What barriers and concerns do you see in parents whose children need to get diagnosed?

• If I were the parent of a child having difficulty in class and I were invited to a talk with you, let’s have such a conversation. What would you tell me? What would you offer me?

Filling out forms

• Who fills out the forms for a child diagnosis by a neurologist?

• Do teachers have difficulty filling out such forms? In which parts? Please be specific.

• Do you help the teacher fill out the form?

The conversation with the parents after they return with a diagnosis

• How does the conversation between you and the parents go when they are still debating whether or not to take the neurologist’s recommendation to medicate?

• Please share with me your emotions during a conversation with parents coming back with a diagnosis.

• Let’s say I’m a parent who objects to medication. What would you tell me in the conversation: I will play the parent and you be yourself in the conversation.

Norms

• What is the present norm of the education system in treating children suspected or already having a diagnosis of ADHD?

• How frequently do you see children diagnosed with ADHD and receiving medication (Ritalin) among the students in your school?

Counselors’ positions concerning encouraging the use of stimulants

• What do you think of the education system’s approach towards medication for ADHD?

• How do you view the rise in the use of medication among students?

• What is your position towards other treatment alternatives?

Risk perception

• How do you perceive ADHD, how important is it to treat it and in what ways?

• To what extent do you perceive the use of medication as safe and effective? Do you believe it carries risks?

Information sources

• Do you keep yourself informed about ADHD and the different ways to treat it? If so, where do you get that information?

• Do you feel a need to receive information from a credible source to keep yourself current about innovations on the disorder and ways to treat it?