Attitudes of Primary School Teachers and Its Associated Factors Toward Students With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Debre Markos and Dejen Towns, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Although most instructors appear to understand visible disability, they appear to have a negative attitude toward children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), considering them to be lazy or purposefully disruptive. In Ethiopia, there is a scarcity of data on teachers’ attitudes toward children with ADHD. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A pre-tested questionnaire that contains a case vignette was administered through face-to-face interview with 417 teachers. The data was entered into Epi-data version 4.2 and exported into SPSS version 25.0 for analysis. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the correlates of attitude in the participants and a B coefficient with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used. The statistical significance was accepted at p-value < 0.05. RESULTS: The mean score of the teachers’ attitude toward ADHD was 41.6 ± 5.4 (95% CI; 41.12, 42.16) and 46% of the participants had unfavorable attitudes. Low level of educational status, knowledge, teaching experience, familiarity in teaching students with ADHD, and having training were significantly associated with attitude of the teachers. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that nearly half of the participants had an unfavorable attitude toward students with ADHD. Based on the findings, it was recommended that it is better to strengthen training of teachers to recognize students with ADHD.