Although a growing number of studies have demonstrated differences in responses to ADHD-like behaviours, very few studies have focused on theorizing diversity in the way ADHD is framed and approached globally. To contribute to the study of medicalization in a global context, this study examines the discursive field in which care professionals explain and treat ADHD among children in metropolitan India and addresses the need for an analytic framework to grasp the variations in the way ADHD is understood and approached. Building on the concepts of pragmatic medicalization and creolization, we study ADHD discourses in India asking ‘What is at stake’ and ‘What matters most’?

In this mixed methods study, 64 care professionals regularly involved in assessing ADHD-like behaviour completed an online Q-sort, and 21 professionals participated in face-to-face interviews. The Q-data were subjected to factor analysis. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analyses.

Our study identified six distinct ADHD discourses, which showed that care professionals combine explanatory and treatment models. Professionals adapt their explanations and treatments of ADHD to parents’ worries regarding academic performance, family prestige, stigma and side effects of allopathic medicine. Our findings indicate that an awareness of local concerns and adjustments to structural opportunities can diversify how ADHD-like behaviour is framed and responded to.

This study demonstrates that medicalization operates between the emerging institutions of care and the everyday concerns of families and care professionals and reveals the need to examine conflicting stakes as drivers of diverse responses to ADHD diagnosis and treatment in India and the rest of the world.

尽管越来越多的研究表明对 ADHD 样行为的反应存在差异，但很少有研究关注在全球范围内对 ADHD 的构建和处理方式的多样性进行理论化。为了在全球范围内对医学化研究做出贡献，本研究考察了护理专业人员解释和治疗印度大城市儿童多动症的话语领域，并解决了对分析框架的需求，以掌握多动症的理解和理解方式的变化。接近。基于实用医学化和克里奥化的概念​​，我们研究了印度的 ADHD 话语，询问“什么是利害关系”和“什么最重要”？

在这项混合方法研究中，64 名定期参与评估 ADHD 样行为的护理专业人员完成了在线 Q 排序，21 名专业人员参加了面对面的采访。Q数据进行因子分析。使用定性内容分析对访谈进行了分析。

我们的研究确定了六个不同的 ADHD 话语，这表明护理专业人员将解释模型和治疗模型相结合。专业人士根据父母对对抗疗法药物的学业成绩、家庭声望、耻辱和副作用的担忧，调整他们对 ADHD 的解释和治疗。我们的研究结果表明，对局部问题的认识和对结构性机会的调整可以使 ADHD 样行为的构建和响应方式多样化。

这项研究表明，医疗化在新兴的护理机构与家庭和护理专业人员的日常关注之间运作，并揭示了需要检查相互冲突的利害关系，作为印度和世界其他地区对 ADHD 诊断和治疗的不同反应的驱动因素。