Zhao Xin, Coxe Stefany J, Timmons Adela C, Frazier Stacy L
Department of Psychology, College of Arts, Sciences, & Education, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, USA.
Adm Policy Ment Health. 2022 May;49(3):357-373. doi: 10.1007/s10488-021-01168-w. Epub 2021 Sep 22.
Health information influences consumer decision making to seek, select, and utilize services. Online searching for mental health information is increasingly common, especially by adolescents and parents. We examined historical trends and factors that may influence population-level patterns in information seeking for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We extracted Google Trends data from January 2004 to February 2020. Keywords included "ADHD," "ADHD treatment," "ADHD medication," and "ADHD therapy." We examined trends (systematic change over time) and seasonality (repeating pattern of change) via time-series analyses and graphics. We also used interrupted time-series analyses to examine the impact of celebrity and pharmaceutical events. Queries of "ADHD medication" increase, while queries for "ADHD therapy" remain relatively low despite a positive linear trend. Searches for "ADHD treatment" displayed a downward trend in more recent years. Analyses on seasonality revealed that holiday breaks coincided with a decrease in search interest, while post-break periods illustrated a rise, and the ADHD Awareness Month (October) coincided with a rise of public interest in all four search terms. Celebrity effects were more prominent in earlier years; the "Own It" pharmaceutical campaign may have increased ADHD awareness and the specificity of searches for "ADHD medication." The anonymous, accessible, and low-cost nature of seeking information online makes search engines like Google important sources of mental health information. Changing search patterns in response to seasonal, advocacy, and media events highlight internet-based opportunities for raising awareness and disseminating empirically supported information.
健康信息会影响消费者寻求、选择和使用服务的决策。在线搜索心理健康信息越来越普遍，尤其是青少年和家长。我们研究了可能影响注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）信息寻求的人群层面模式的历史趋势和因素。我们提取了2004年1月至2020年2月的谷歌趋势数据。关键词包括“ADHD”、“ADHD治疗”、“ADHD药物”和“ADHD疗法”。我们通过时间序列分析和图表研究了趋势（随时间的系统性变化）和季节性（变化的重复模式）。我们还使用中断时间序列分析来研究名人及制药事件的影响。“ADHD药物”的查询量增加，而“ADHD疗法”的查询量尽管呈正线性趋势但仍相对较低。近年来，“ADHD治疗”的搜索量呈下降趋势。季节性分析显示，假期期间搜索兴趣下降，假期后搜索兴趣上升，ADHD宣传月（10月）与公众对所有四个搜索词的兴趣上升相吻合。名人效应在早些年更为突出；“掌控它”制药活动可能提高了对ADHD的认识以及对“ADHD药物”搜索的特异性。在线寻求信息的匿名性、可及性和低成本特性使谷歌等搜索引擎成为心理健康信息的重要来源。因应季节性、宣传和媒体事件而变化的搜索模式凸显了基于互联网提高认识和传播实证支持信息的机会。
