Social Workers' Attitudes About Psychotropic Drug Treatment with Youths‪.‬

Given the precipitous rise in psychotropic drug use with youths in recent years (for example, Rushton & Whitmire, 2001; Zito et al., 2003), nearly every social worker practicing with youths has worked with a medicated child or adolescent. Despite the controversies and concerns this trend has generated (see, for example, Ingersoll, Bauer, & Burns, 2004; Moses & Kirk, 2005), we know very little about social workers' attitudes toward this trend. This is unfortunate because social workers provide the largest proportion of mental health services in the United States (Gibelman & Schervish, 1997; Knowlton, 1995), and their attitudes are likely to affect how they broker clients' access to drug treatment and the quality of supportive services that accompany drug treatment (for example, education; monitoring of side effects, adherence, and effectiveness; and collaboration with physicians). Moreover, parents often turn to social workers to ask about medication because social workers often serve as intermediaries among families, schools, and physicians in regard to referrals for medication evaluation and follow-up (Bentley & Walsh, 2001; Taylor, 2003). Social workers' attitudes about drug treatment likely affect their behavior and communication style with clients (Bentley, Farmer, & Phillips, 1991; Taylor, 2003). Johnson and colleagues (1998) found that social workers expressing stronger beliefs that medication is helpful in treating emotionally disturbed youths were also more likely to have favorable attitudes toward collaborative work with other professionals (for example, to refer youths to other specialists) and to work more closely with families (for example, to share information with parents and to avoid attributing blame). Social workers' attitudes toward medication treatment are likely to affect medication referrals. Bradley (2003) noted that social workers' "beliefs and theoretical framework impact why, when, and how this decision [to refer for medication consultation] is made" (p. 36).