Review: Which components of behavioral parent and teacher training work for children with ADHD? - a metaregression analysis on child behavioral outcomes

Behavioral parenting intervention for parents of preschool-aged children born moderately and late preterm: An experimental study

BACKGROUND

Prematurity can be associated with difficulties in emotional and behavioral regulation in children, leading to short- and long-term impacts on parental dynamics. However, moderate-late preterm children and their parents rarely receive follow-up care.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this current study was to evaluate a Behavioral Parenting Intervention (BPI) specifically developed for parents of preschool-aged moderate-late preterm children, to prevent their potential difficulties in emotional and behavioral regulation.

METHOD

Thirty-eight families participated in a program consisting of 7 therapy sessions. Each experimental group was matched with a control group; the control group would become the experimental group in the following session. Parents completed questionnaires one week before the start of the program (T1) and at the end of the 7th therapy session to measure immediate effects (T2). Social validity measures were also added to this study to assess the feasibility and acceptability of our program.

RESULTS

We primarily observed positive effects on the Parental Stress Index total (PSI) in the population 1. For the control group, there was no significant difference between PSI Total scores at T1 (M=101.1, SD = 22.2) and T2 (M=101.5, SD = 19.8). In contrast, the experimental group showed a significant reduction in PSI total scores from T1 (M=105, SD = 23.2) to T2 (M=93.3, SD = 21.3), with p < .001. Similar effects were observed for both the Parent Distress and the Difficult Child subscales.

CONCLUSION

While our results are modest, the measures of social validity and our high satisfaction rates indicate the importance and necessity of a parenting intervention aimed at moderately preterm children beyond the initial phase of early development. Future research should aim to facilitate access and increase family engagement to improve the effectiveness of this type of intervention.

Supporting parents to reduce children's anxiety: A meta-analysis of interventions and their theoretical components

Parent-focused interventions hold promise for reducing child anxiety, but their content varies greatly, and little is known on the intervention content. We estimated the effects of parent-focused interventions on child anxiety and the most effective combinations of theoretical components. We searched PsycINFO, Medline, and Web of Science in October 2022 for randomized trials on parent-focused interventions to reduce children's anxiety. We used robust variance estimation to estimate main effects and differential effects by individual theoretical components, and network meta-analysis to estimate the effects of clusters of components (preregistration: PROSPERO CRD42022362983). We identified 26 studies (k = 157, N = 4098). Parent-focused interventions had a significant medium effect on children's anxiety (d = -0.59; 95% CI [-0.92, -0.26]). Interventions used seven theoretically distinct components. No significant differential effects were found, but all clusters of components that produced significant effects contained a behavioral component. Adding cognitive and emotional components to behavioral components seemed beneficial. This meta-analysis highlights the potential of parent-focused interventions for children's anxiety, and of behavioral components in particular, but is limited by the very low certainty of evidence. More high-quality research is needed to understand the exact potential of parent-focused interventions on children's anxiety, and their most effective components.

Innovations in Practice: Brief behavioral parent training for children with impairing ADHD characteristics - a pilot study

BACKGROUND

Behavioral parent training (BPT) is a well-established intervention for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but most programs are long, which may limit their accessibility. This could be improved by making programs shorter. Here, we studied (1) the feasibility of a new brief BPT program and its procedures, and (2) pre-post changes in daily rated problem behaviors (primary outcome), children's disruptive behaviors, ADHD/ODD characteristics, impairment, and parents' sense of parenting competence (secondary outcomes).

METHODS

We conducted a nonrandomized pilot study including parents of 28 children (4-12 years) with impaired ADHD characteristics. We examined treatment dropout, parent and therapist satisfaction, recruitment rates, study drop-out, measurement response and completion rates, acceptability of measurements according to parents, and treatment fidelity. Pre-post changes in the treatment group were compared to those in a historical control group using mixed model analysis, except for those outcomes that were not assessed in the control group. Within-group differences were analyzed for all outcomes.

RESULTS

Feasibility of the program and study procedures were good. Treatment dropout was 14.2%, parents and therapists were satisfied with the new program. We recruited 1.5 participants per month, study dropout was 10.7%, response/completion rates ranged from 82% to 100%, measurements were acceptable for parents, and treatment fidelity was 96%. We found substantial within-group changes (d's = .68-.77) and medium-sized between-group changes (d's = .46-.48) on daily rated problem behaviors. We observed no changes on most of the secondary outcomes, except for disruptive behaviors and impairment.

CONCLUSION

Our newly developed brief BPT program was feasible and we observed improvements in children's daily-rated problem behaviors. These results suggest that brief BPT might be beneficial for clinical practice if the findings are confirmed in large-scale randomized controlled trials.

A pragmatic randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Well Parent Japan in routine care in Japan: The training and nurturing support for mothers (TRANSFORM) study

BACKGROUND

Well Parent Japan (WPJ) is a new hybrid group parent training programme combining sessions to improve mothers' psychological well-being with a culturally adapted version of the New Forest Parenting Programme (NFPP). This study investigates the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of WPJ against treatment as usual (TAU) within Japanese child mental health services.

METHODS

TRANSFORM was a pragmatic multi-site randomised controlled trial (RCT) with two parallel arms. Altogether 124 mothers of 6-12-year-old children with DSM-5 ADHD were randomised to WPJ (n = 65) or TAU (n = 59). Participants were assessed at baseline, post-treatment and three-month follow-up. The primary outcome was parent-domain stress following intervention. Secondary outcomes included maternal reports of child-domain stress, parenting practices, parenting efficacy, mood, family strain, child behaviour and impairment. Objective measures of the parent-child relationship were collected at baseline and post-treatment. Data analysis was intention to treat (ITT) with treatment effects quantified through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) via multilevel modelling. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) assessed WPJ's cost-effectiveness.

RESULTS

WPJ was superior to TAU in reducing parent-domain stress post-treatment (adjusted mean difference = 5.05, 95% CI 0.33 to 9.81, p = .036) and at follow-up (adjusted mean difference 4.82, 95% CI 0.09 to 9.55, p = .046). Significant WPJ intervention effects were also observed for parenting practices, parenting efficacy and family strain. WPJ and TAU were not significantly different post-intervention or at follow-up for the other secondary outcomes. The incremental cost of WPJ was 34,202 JPY (315.81 USD). The probability that WPJ is cost-effective is 74% at 10,000 JPY (USD 108.30) per one-point improvement in parenting stress, 92% at 20,000 JPY (216.60 USD). The programme was delivered with high fidelity and excellent retention.

CONCLUSIONS

WPJ can be delivered in routine clinical care at modest cost with positive effects on self-reported well-being of the mothers, parenting practices and family coping. WPJ is a promising addition to psychosocial interventions for ADHD in Japan.

Pupils' inclusion as a process of narrative interactions: tackling ADHD typification through MADIT methodology

BACKGROUND

ADHD is the most common childhood neurodevelopmental disorder. The symptomatology makes the management of ADHD particularly demanding in school, so teachers' training programs have been widely implemented. Nevertheless, these interventions could lead teachers to concentrate on the dysfunctional elements of these students, exposing them to the risk of stigmatisation. Conceptualising stigma and inclusion as narrative processes, the present study observed how teacher ADHD training texts, endorsed by the Italian government, impact on the inclusion process of students.

METHODS

The research analysed a corpus of N = 31,261 text occurrences and focused on three areas: (1) ADHD as a clinical condition; (2) the impact of ADHD characteristics in the scholastic setting; (3) interventions to manage ADHD criticalities in school settings. To observe the interactive processes fostered by the narratives under scrutiny, we used Dialogic Science and MADIT methodology, since they allow us to measure the language use modalities through an index: the Dialogical Weight (dW). The value of dW ranges between 0.1 (min) and 0.9 (max) and is linked to the potential outcomes of inclusion for students with ADHD. A low dW accounts for narratives entrenched in personal beliefs presented as absolute truths, undermining inclusion of students with ADHD. In contrast, high dW signals language interaction relying on sharable elements, able to foster social unity and diminish stigma.

RESULTS

The results yielded a critical discursive configuration, both in general and for the three distinct areas. We measured an overall Dialogical Weight of 0.4dW and, for the three areas (1) = 0.3dW; (2) = 0.3dW; (3) = 0.4dW. The analysed text does not maximise the triggering of inclusive interactions, as they rely on individual references and present one's narrative as the sole plausible perspective: reinforcing already existing positions and exposing to the risk of stereotyping of the pupils.

CONCLUSIONS

The study highlighted how the ADHD training materials analysed, focusing on a purely informational and clinical approach, lose in effectiveness with respect to generating inclusive school settings. Finally, to promote the inclusion of these pupils, elements are offered for outlining an approach based on fostering active participation by all roles involved.

The short- and longer-term effects of brief behavioral parent training versus care as usual in children with behavioral difficulties: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

The access to and uptake of evidence-based behavioral parent training for children with behavioral difficulties (i.e., oppositional, defiant, aggressive, hyperactive, impulsive, and inattentive behavior) are currently limited because of a scarcity of certified therapists and long waiting lists. These problems are in part due to the long and sometimes perceived as rigid nature of most evidence-based programs and result in few families starting behavioral parent training and high dropout rates. Brief and individually tailored parenting interventions may reduce these problems and make behavioral parent training more accessible. This protocol paper describes a two-arm, multi-center, randomized controlled trial on the short- and longer-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a brief, individually tailored behavioral parent training program for children with behavioral difficulties.

METHODS

Parents of children aged 2-12 years referred to a child mental healthcare center are randomized to (i) three sessions of behavioral parent training with optional booster sessions or (ii) care as usual. To evaluate effectiveness, our primary outcome is the mean severity of five daily ratings by parents of four selected behavioral difficulties. Secondary outcomes include measures of parent and child behavior, well-being, and parent-child interaction. We explore whether child and parent characteristics moderate intervention effects. To evaluate cost-effectiveness, the use and costs of mental healthcare and utilities are measured. Finally, parents' and therapists' satisfaction with the brief program are explored. Measurements take place at baseline (T0), one week after the brief parent training, or eight weeks after baseline (in case of care as usual) (T1), and six months (T2) and twelve months (T3) after T1.

DISCUSSION

The results of this trial could have meaningful societal implications for children with behavioral difficulties and their parents. If we find the brief behavioral parent training to be more (cost-)effective than care as usual, it could be used in clinical practice to make parent training more accessible.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The trial is prospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05591820) on October 24th, 2022 and updated throughout the trial.

Components of Behavioral Parent Training for Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Series of Replicated Single-Case Experiments

Behavioral parent training (BPT) is an evidence-based treatment for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Stimulus control techniques (antecedent-based techniques, e.g., clear rules, instructions) and contingency management techniques (consequent-based techniques, e.g., praise, ignore) are the most common ones that are being taught to parents in BPT. However, research into the additive effects of these techniques is scarce. In this replicated single-case experimental ABC phase design, including six children on stable medication for ADHD (8-11 years) and their parents, the added efficacy of consequent-based techniques on top of antecedent-based techniques was evaluated. After a baseline period (phase A), we randomized the commencement time of two sessions parent training in antecedent-based techniques and two sessions parent training in consequent-based techniques for each child. Children's behaviors were assessed by daily parent ratings of selected problem behaviors and an overall behavior rating. Although visual inspection showed that behavior improved for most children in both phases, randomization tests did not demonstrate the added efficacy of the consequent-based techniques on top of the antecedent-based techniques. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future single-case experiments in this population are discussed.

Interventions for Young Children's Mental Health: A Review of Reviews

To determine the efficacy of intervention programs for young children (4-9 years) with emerging mental health needs, we conducted a review of meta-analytic and systematic reviews of the intervention literature. Of 41,061 abstracts identified and 15,076 screened, 152 review articles met the inclusion criteria. We reviewed interventions across multiple disciplines targeting: (1) general mental health concerns; (2) internalizing symptoms; (3) externalizing symptoms; (4) anxiety; (5) depression; (6) trauma; (7) symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; and (8) mental health concerns associated with autism spectrum disorder. Substantial evidence was found for the efficacy of behavioral and cognitive behavioral interventions for general mental health concerns, externalizing symptoms (generally, as well as ADHD, conduct, and other behavioral symptoms) and internalizing symptoms (generally, as well as anxiety) aged 4-9 years. Emerging evidence was identified for interventions targeting trauma symptoms, depression symptoms, and social, emotional and behavioral symptoms in autism spectrum disorder in children aged 4-9 years. Currently there is only limited emerging evidence regarding non-behavioral or non-cognitive behavioral interventions for programs targeting children ages 4-9 years where the aim is to deliver an evidence-based program to improve child social, emotional and/or behavioral functioning. Given the recent rises in mental health needs reported in children, targeted behavioral-and/or cognitive behavior therapy-based interventions should be made widely available to children (and their families) who experience elevated symptoms.

Sustained improvements by behavioural parent training for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review of longer-term child and parental outcomes

Background

Behavioural parent training is an evidence-based intervention for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but little is known about the extent to which initial benefits are maintained.

Aims

This meta-analytic review investigated longer-term (i.e., more than 2 months post-intervention) child and parental outcomes of behavioural parent training for children with ADHD.

Materials & Methods

We searched for randomized controlled trials and examined ADHD symptoms, behavioural problems, positive parenting, negative parenting, parenting sense of competence, parent-child relationship quality, and parental mental health as outcomes. We included 27 studies (31 interventions; 217 effect sizes), used multilevel random-effects meta-analyses for between- and within-group comparisons (pre-intervention to follow-up and post-intervention to follow-up), and explored twelve predictors of change.

Results

Between pre-intervention and follow-up (M = 5.3 months), we found significant small-to-moderate between-group effects of the intervention on ADHD symptoms, behavioural problems, positive parenting, parenting sense of competence and parent-child relationship quality. Within-group findings show sustained improvements in the intervention conditions for all outcome domains. There were few significant changes from post-intervention to follow-up. Additionally, the large majority of the individual effect sizes indicated sustained outcomes from post-intervention to follow-up. There were seven significant predictors of change in child outcomes, including stronger reductions in ADHD symptoms of girls and behaviour problems of younger children. In contrast with some meta-analyses on short-term effects, we found no differences between masked and unmasked outcomes on ADHD symptoms at follow-up.

Discussion & Conclusion

We conclude that behavioural parent training has longer-term benefits for children's ADHD symptoms and behavioural problems, and for positive parenting behaviours, parenting sense of competence and quality of the parent-child relationship.

ADHD Symptoms Increase Perception of Classroom Entropy and Impact Teacher Stress Levels

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder among school-age children, characterized by persistent behavioral patterns of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity. These behaviors can create stress for teachers and negatively affect teacher-student interactions. This study hypothesized that a high frequency of ADHD students in the classroom can increase internal and external entropy, ultimately resulting in a negative stress impact on teachers. The physical concept of entropy, which measures the degree of disorder in a system, was used to better understand this relationship. The study evaluated 177 primary school teachers in their response to interacting with students with ADHD, using the Measurement of Psychological Stress (MPS) to evaluate subjective stress levels and the QUEIs and QUEIp questionnaires to measure structural and personal entropy. Path analysis was applied to identify the factors associated with the total score of MPS. The hypothesis was confirmed, as the frequency of ADHD students had a negative impact on teachers' entropy levels and personal entropy was found to significantly increase stress levels. The study highlights the negative impact of ADHD symptoms on stress levels and personal entropy of teachers when interacting with students with ADHD. These findings suggest the need for interventions aimed at balancing the frequency of students with ADHD and promoting positive training on stress reduction for teacher-student interactions.

Does central executive training and/or inhibitory control training improve emotion regulation for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? A randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION

Approximately 48-54% of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have impairing difficulties with emotion regulation, and these difficulties are not ameliorated by first-line ADHD treatments. Working memory and inhibitory control represent promising intervention targets given their functional, if not causal, links with ADHD-related emotion dysregulation.

METHODS

This preregistered randomized controlled trial tested whether two digital therapeutic training protocols that have been previously shown to improve working memory (Central Executive Training [CET]) and inhibitory control (Inhibitory Control Training [ICT]) can improve emotion regulation in a sample of 94 children with ADHD aged 8-13 years (M = 10.22, SD = 1.43; 76% White/non-Hispanic; 29 girls).

RESULTS

Results of Bayesian mixed model ANOVAs indicated both treatment groups demonstrated significant decreases in emotion dysregulation relative to pre-treatment at immediate post-treatment (parent report; d = 1.25, BF₁₀ = 8.04 × 10¹³, p < 0.001), at 1-2 months after completing treatment (teacher report; d = 0.99, BF₁₀ = 1.22 × 10⁶, p < 0.001), and at 2-4-months follow-up (parent report; d = 1.22, BF₁₀ = 1.15 × 10¹⁴, p < 0.001). Contrary to our hypotheses, the CET and ICT groups demonstrated equivalent reductions in emotion dysregulation and maintenance of effects. Exploratory analyses revealed that results were robust to control for informant expectancies, ADHD medication status/changes, in-person vs. at-home treatment, child age, and time from treatment completion to post-treatment ratings.

DISCUSSION

To determine whether working memory and inhibitory control are causally linked with ADHD-related emotion dysregulation, future studies should include active control conditions that do not train executive functions prior to making decisions about the clinical utility of CET/ICT for the treatment of emotion dysregulation in ADHD.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

[https://clinicaltrials.gov/], identifier [NCT03324464].