試囡仔：注意力不足／過動孩童家長的另類醫療經驗

Putting Kids to Trials: The Experience of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Parents of Kids with Symptoms of Inattentiveness and/or Hyperactivity

在強調科學證據的西方生物醫療之外，不同國家與文化中還有許多信念與做法各異的另類醫療。近年來，名人選擇另類療法以致延誤正規醫療時機的敘事時有所聞。在精神醫療的範疇，此類「正規」與「另類」不相容的張力在注意力不足過動症（ADHD）的論戰中最為顯著。除了藥物與行為治療外，坊間還有許多宣稱有效的方法。正規醫療專家往往強調，家長可能會因為缺乏科學知識而誤信另類醫療。本研究嘗試跳脫此類缺陷模式（deficit model）的假設，以問卷和訪談來探查家長的另類醫療經驗。問卷調查（N =83）發現多數家長（73.2%）都接觸過另類療法，其中又以營養療法最常見（49.3%）。訪談（N=11）分析則顯示，家長接觸另類醫療的行動具有高度的試驗性質。他們未必是缺乏科學知識或是排斥正規療法，而是像個實驗者一般，依序或同步使用正規與另類療法。在「試囡仔」的過程中，科學實證並非家長行動的唯一依據，孩子與他們的親身經驗（試驗）往往扮演了更重要的角色。

Along with evidence-based western biomedicine, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) based on varying beliefs and practices exist across different nations or cultures. In recent years, cases that celebrities turned to CAM and missed the best timing of orthodox treatment were frequently reported. In the field of psychiatry, the tension between orthodox medicine (OM) and CAM is most evident in the ADHD controversy. Besides medication and behavioral therapy, various interventions claim their effectiveness as well. According to the orthodox psychiatric experts, parents might misbelieve and adopt CAM due to their lack of scientific knowledge. To avoid such assumptions of deficit model, the current study explored the parents’CAM experience by questionnaire and interview. The survey (N=83) revealed that most participants (73.2%) had CAM experiences, among which nutritional therapy was the most prevalent (49.3%). Grounded in the narratives of 11 interviewees, the parents’CAM-seeking behaviors were found highly experimental. Not ignorant of scientific knowledge nor resistant to OM, they put their kids to trials like experimenters. Beyond scientific evidence, the experience/ experiments of parents and kids play a more significant role.