Parents' Experience in Making Decisions About Electroconvulsive Therapy for Adolescents with Depression: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND

For parents of adolescents, deciding whether to allow their children to undergo electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is difficult, even when they are fully informed. There is little in the nursing research literature about the experiences of parents during this challenging time.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of parents when deciding whether to use ECT in their adolescents with severe depression.

METHODS

We conducted an exploratory qualitative study at a Grade IIIA mental health center in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. A total of 20 parents were recruited, 13 of whom participated in formal face-to-face, semistructured interviews. The data were analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step method to extract the final themes.

RESULTS

This study determined that the decision-making experience of parents of adolescents with severe depression is characterized by the following four themes: decision-making anxiety, fear of ECT, feeling as if making decisions in a fog, and considering the feelings of teenagers.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents face significant challenges in deciding whether to consent to ECT for their adolescent children. In this study, parents were influenced by the perceived risks of ECT, social stigma, treatment costs, media representations, and adolescents' understanding of ECT. Mental health nurses working in clinical settings can use these findings to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the decision-making process of parents of adolescents, improve parents' decision-making experience, and provide more individualized, person-centered care. These results can also guide the future development of targeted, nurse-led health education and other programs that better respond to the needs and experiences of parents.